The Cowardly Lion
by Queen of Winterfell
Summary: It started with the visions over the summer. Then my name popped out of the Goblet of Fire. After that, I started learning that everything I knew about myself was a lie. I had to make a lot of choices and I had to hurt a lot of people. It grew to a war, and it ended with me making the ultimate sacrifice for the people I loved. Fred/OC more info inside. 4th year through 7th.
1. Prologue: Not a Gryffindor

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Prologue: Not a Gryffindor **_

I was a Gryffindor, but I didn't know why I was a Gryffindor.

Yes, I would sacrifice myself to save the people I love if I was put in that situation. Yes, I was selfless. Maybe a little too selfless. But I was a coward. My fear level was very low. I got jumpy at the sound of a frog croaking. I was not brave. I was not daring.

My nickname, in the six years that I've been at that school, has been the Cowardly Lion of Gryffindor. Always. So, I didn't know why that damned Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor; not intelligent enough for Ravenclaw, or cunning enough for Slytherin, nor am I patient enough for Hufflepuff. Maybe putting me in the bravest house was some sort of practical joke. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe the Sorting Hat saw something inside of me that I didn't—or maybe I was just nothing.

I was good at spells, and believe it or not, Defense Against the Dark Arts, but for everything else, I just barely passed.

I wondered if my mother was here if she would be proud of me—or if my father would disown me for being a disappointment. But, they were not here; they were killed in the First Wizarding War, along with other beloved parents, when I was three years old. I didn't remember much of my mother and father; all that I knew is that she was beautiful and he was kind. He sang to me a lot and she rocked me back and forth to sleep every night. That's all I remembered, but then again, that's probably for the best. I heard they met untimely ends and I was there to witness it all, though I didn't remember anything except screaming and a green flash and a husky voice. That's all I remembered, and I was glad for that.

After their death I was taken to my parent's best friends, Arthur and Molly Weasley. They took me in without hesitation, and accepted me as their daughter, though I truly never was and never would be.

My mother was a Slytherin. My father was a Ravenclaw. They were incredibly brave and intelligent and cunning and everything I could hope to be but never would be.

I was nothing like them.

I would learn, though, in this school year, that I was _everything_ like my mother and father. I would learn what it _meant_ to be courageous, and just how far I would go to learn the _truth_, and wished that I _hadn't_. And, in two years pass, I would learn _exactly_ what it meant to make the ultimate self sacrifice.

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**A/N: I'm going to let you know now, that this fanfic is going to be based off of the movies, because I have the movies at my disposal and I don't have the books (blastphemy) and I haven't read them in years (off with her head). So, yes. Now, this takes place during Harry's fourth year, but Fred and George's sixth year, seeing as my OC is the same age as Fred and George. But this does take place during Goblet of Fire. And this is a Fred/OC fic.**

**Also, I would really love it if you guys would let me know if my OC starts turning into a Mary Sue, even in the slightest, so that I can fix her right away and keep her on the right track. I want this fanfic to be good, and I don't want it to be ruined by a Mary Sue. And, this will be a rather long fanfic because it's going to take place in the last four books of the series (possibly cutting out Half Blood Prince though, because she'll have graduated and won't be at the school that year, but I might come up with something else that could keep her there...or something). Hopefully I'll be able to stay with it long enough. I have the movies, and I'm going to be watching them for inspiration, and I might take some scenes/dialogue from the movies (I'll warn you though beforehand). Especially from Voldemort in the last movie.**

**I would also like to say that if you give me some ideas in a review I'll look them over and consider using them, giving you credit of course.**

**So...read and review away!**

**Let me just repeat this a second time: THIS IS BASED OFF OF THE MOVIES AS I DO NOT HAVE THE BOOKS/HAVE NOT READ THEM IN YEARS. I KNOW. I'M A DISGRACE. SUE ME.**


	2. Nightmare Addict

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter One: Nightmare Addict**_

_Wake up. _

_**But I couldn't wake up because I was watching people die. In my dream, because I knew it was a dream, because I saw my parents from the sky above me, everyone around me was dying. My friends. My teachers. My enemies. Everyone. They were all dying and I was watching, glued to where I stood, like my feet were shackled to the concrete. Colorful spells, hexes, and charms flew all around me, creating a rainbow. A deadly rainbow.**_

_You need to wake up, now._

_**Perhaps I did need to wake up, but I didn't remember how. My eyes wouldn't close. It was as if they were being held open with clothes pins, forcing me to watch the horror in front of me. I tried reaching for my wand, but of course I couldn't. **_

_Merlin, you're a hard sleeper._

_**Another reason I knew I was dreaming was because I wasn't scared. Me. Not scared. It was like a miracle. To be in a battle scene like this, watching all this happening. If it was actually happening, I knew that I would be on the ground, curled up in a ball, crying. I hated danger. I hated conflict. I hated watching this.**_

_Please don't bite my head off._

I was jarred awake by my back thudding against the hardwood floor and the wind getting knocked out of me for a second. With wide eyes I looked up, blinking furiously, letting the anger that was bubbling inside of me simmer down, and saw Fred looking at me curiously with wide eyes from my bed.

"Fred," I barked, sitting up and rubbing the back of my now tender head. "What the hell was that?" I asked with a slight scowl. That was not on the top of my list on ways I wanted to be woken up.

The red head smiled sheepishly at me and said, "You wouldn't wake up…and you looked like you were having a nightmare. Had to wake you up somehow. Dad said hurry up and get ready so we can leave." He extended his hand to me and I took it, and then yanked him down to the floor beside me and stood up quickly, before he could take the chance and tickle me, thus causing him more pain in his groin region from the heel of my foot.

"You play dirty for a Gryffindor." He smirked, standing up and smiling down at me. Merlin, he was so tall. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at me and I rolled my eyes, pointing to my door for him to leave. He sighed, hanging his head and slumping his shoulders dramatically, and then treaded out the door, shutting it behind him.

I shook my head, crossing my arms lightly over my body and looking around the room. The bed on the other side of the wall, Ginny's bed, was empty and neatly made. I tried to move, but my body wouldn't obey my mind. I had a flashback of the nightmare I had had just moments ago, and the same feeling of helplessness washed over me. I sucked in a sharp breath. It was so intense; I swayed and leaned against the end of my bed. I blinked several times and rolled my head around my shoulders, trying to get the images of my friends dying out of my mind.

I didn't know what it meant; was it an omen? I wished that I knew how to read dreams, but I wasn't going to get Trelawney to answer that for me. The woman was already crazy enough, and I didn't want her to start raving about how I was a Seer, because I wasn't; this had only started happening and I assumed it was happening because I wasn't able to sleep much during the summer. And possibly the anxiety of the upcoming school year in only a matter of days.

Yes.

That's what it was.

And I was going to stick with that conclusion.

After I was done getting dressed I quickly made my way downstairs, pecking Molly on the cheek as I entered the kitchen. "Arthur and everyone are waiting for you outside." She said as I shoved some toast in my mouth and swigged some milk to wash it down. I smiled at her, gave her a hug, and waved to her as I exited the Burrow. It was early morning; the sun was just coming up, and it felt great outside. The morning dew made the grass slosh under my feet as I made my way over to the Weasley's, plus Hermione and Harry. I waved to the two of them and then fell in step between the Weasley Twins, who were scheming on which team they should bet on to win the Quidditch World Cup.

"What do you think, Davie?" George asked, draping a lazy arm around my shoulders.

I shrugged. "I have no opinion; you know I don't like Quidditch much."

Fred raised an eyebrow at me. "That's right. So then why are you coming with us?"

I rolled my eyes and removed George's arm from my shoulders. I was quite heavy. "Because it's a family tradition, and while I'm not technically family, it makes your father happy to take all of us and I don't want to disappoint him." Fred opened his mouth to say something and I quickly added, assuming he was going to say something about me staying home with Molly, "And your mum tends to always make me frilly things and talk about the wedding I'm sure I'll never have when we're alone together. So. I'd take Quidditch over that any day." I said seriously. The Twins snorted with laughter at me and I felt myself blush slightly. It was true though! I loved the woman, but Merlin, every chance she got she was ranting and raving about the wedding I would have and the kids I would have and the perfect man I would marry.

It was all so tiring; she had Ginny to do that to.

I was a kid anyway; I didn't want to think about getting married and I highly doubted that I would be getting married in the first place.

I stayed quiet as I let Fred and George debate on who they would be betting on to win. They were trying to save up money so that they could open their own practical joke shop after their final year at Hogwarts. They said they already had a position waiting for me, because I helped them perfect their concoctions all the time. I was practically the silent mastermind behind all their gimmicks and explosives because I, out of the two of them, was better at potions. It was fun, playing jokes on people, and while I was the quite, introverted one, I'd had my fare share of detentions with the Weasley Twins because of my involvement. But I wasn't not complaining; getting into trouble with them had made my Hogwarts experience all that much more bearable when it became unbearable—and it became unbearable almost the instant I stepped onto the campus grounds.

We were nearing our destination when I heard a small, high pitched hooting coming from above me. Looking up I saw my dwarf owl, Ludo swoop down and land on my shoulder. I smiled brightly and stroked her rusty red feathers. She nuzzled her beak against my cheek and cooed softly. Ludo looked like a baby owl even though she was six years old. She was fully grown, but that's the best thing about dwarf owls; they never got big. It was absolutely adorable.

From the corner of my eye I could see Fred inconspicuously watching me show affection to my owl and felt a small blush creep over my face. The good thing about being tan was that a faint blush was hard to show up on my cheeks.

"So what do you think, Davie?" George asked, gently grabbing Ludo from my shoulder and perching her on top of his head, earning him a few pecks of displeasure until she settled down and closed her eyes.

"About what?" I questioned, having forgotten what they were talking about.

"The World Cup." Fred mumbled from beside me. I could hear the smirk in his voice and punched him lightly in the arm.

"I already told you I had no opinion." I yawned.

The Twins grunted. "Well if you had an opinion," Fred drawled slowly.

"What would it be?" George finished.

I pondered this, and a flash of green swept past my vision. I made a face and sighed with a slight shake of my head. I meant nothing, but still I said, "Irish," And if I just so happened to be right, then Merlin help me.

"What?" They asked in unison. The first few times they did it when we were small was cute, but now it was just annoying. If it was one thing I had in common with Ron, it was our hatred for George and Fred's ability to speak at the same time and say the exact same thing.

Furrowing my eyebrows I said, "The team. Irish. Bet that the Irish will win."

"You're sure?" Fred asked.

I rolled my eyes, clicking my tongue. "If you weren't going to trust my answer you shouldn't have asked."

He laughed slightly and slung his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close, and oddly enough I didn't push him away. "I do trust your answer." He muttered. This time I could see George eyeing us from his peripheral. I looked up to the sky, deliberately ignoring him. Fred and I had grown closer the past six years. Not that we weren't close before, having grown up together, but closer as in I found myself sleeping in his bed sometimes and he found himself sleeping in my bed on occasion. No one questioned it, and I honestly didn't know why they didn't because _I_ certainly did. And since I'd been having the nightmares all summer, I found myself in his bed more often.

I often found myself wondering what it would be like to actually _be _with Fred, but when my brain started wandering that far off I clicked it back; Fred didn't have those feelings for me, and I shouldn't bother having those feelings for him. They would get me nowhere in life. Not like I was going anywhere, anyway.

"Ah, Arthur, there you are!" An unfamiliar man's voice jerked me out of my angsty thoughts. I looked up and saw an older man, maybe a little older than Arthur, standing in front of a large tree on the top of the hill we were climbing. He was a plump man, with grey hair and a smiling, pleasant, warm face.

"Sorry Amos. Had trouble getting the kids up." Arthur replied when he got to the top of the hill, giving the man a friendly hug.

"Don't blame us all! Davilla is horrible to wake up." Hermione protested quickly, causing me to roll my eyes and purse my lips out.

"Davie," I muttered, hating the sound of my formal name. I never really liked it. It never sounded right to me. Hell, it didn't even sit right with me. I knew that it was just a name—my name—but I detested it.

"Ah, it's fine, it's fine." Amos said as a younger boy jumped down out of the tree, landing a few feet away from Harry and the others. And, oh, Godric, he was beautiful. He had short brown hair, slightly wavy, and when he smiled at Harry upon introducing himself I thought I felt my heart flutter. Apparently Hermione and Ginny had succumbed to his good looks, too, because they were fawning over him from a few feet away from me, whispering and giggling.

"Kids, this is Amos Diggory and his son, Cedric." The oldest Weasley introduced. That's right, Cedric was the Quidditch Captain/Seeker for the Hufflepuff's. He was the same year as the Twins and I. I'd heard about him, but seeing as I didn't have an interest for Quidditch, I didn't know him. Talia, my best friend, mentioned him before, I think, last year when the Hufflepuff's beat the Ravenclaw's. She was fawning over him, which caused George, her boyfriend since year two, to become a jealous little puppy.

I heard Fred and George scoff from beside me and I fought the urge to elbow them in the sides for being rude as Cedric came up to me and held his hand out, flashing me a beautiful smile. I kept my mouth closed, in fear that I would say something stupid, and took his hand.

"Cedric," He introduced himself again. He gave it a firm shake and I fought hard to keep from smiling like an idiot.

"Davie," I said tightly. He smiled at me again, his grey eyes sparkling. He gave me a small nod, letting go of my hand, and then walked back over to where his father was standing, engaged in a conversation with Arthur.

"He's no good, that boy." George mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He thinks he's so much better than everyone else." Fred muttered, bawling his fists in his pants pockets.

I rolled my eyes in exaggeration. "Oh, George, what do you have to complain about? You've got a girlfriend, remember?" He turned away. I looked at Fred. "And what do you have to be jealous for? Mad he's prettier than you?" I teased. The ginger looked away from me, trying to hide a smile.

"He _is not_ prettier than me." He scoffed, holding his hand to his chest dramatically.

I smirked, playing along. "Of course not; _no one_ is prettier than you." I patted him on the shoulder in mock sympathy and he bowed.

"I'm glad you've finally come to your senses on my attractiveness." He winked at me and George made a whimpering sound.

I looked at his with a raised eyebrow. "But if Fred is pretty then I'm pretty too, right?" I shook my head with a small laugh and began walking the rest of the way up the hill where everyone was probably waiting for us so we could leave already. "But—Davie—you didn't answer my question!" The boy called after me. I kept walking until I was standing beside Ginny, who was laughing from the scene with her brother and I. "I am pretty though, right?" George asked, jogging up the rest of the hill and standing beside me.

"Oh yes, you're very pretty, George." I muttered sarcastically, grabbing Ludo from the top of his head and cradling her in the crook of my arm.

"Somehow I think that was laced with lies." He scoffed and reached out to touch the boot we were standing in front of. Arthur and Amos stood in front of us, instructing us to place our hands on the Portkey and to not let go until he told us to.

"Alright, one…two…" I looked over at Harry, who was looking at the boot in amazement. I forgot he grew up in the Muggle world; they didn't have the stuff we did. Hermione grew up in the Muggle world, too, but at least she had knowledge of the transportation device.

"Harry!" I hissed. He jerked his head up at me, gulping. "Touch the boot!" He nodded hastily just as Arthur said 'three' and we were roughly spinning through the air.

"Don't let go, kids!" Arthur shouted. It took everything I had to not let my hand detach from the smelly thing. If I did, who knows where I would end up. "Alright, let go! Let go!" The man shouted. Fear gripped my sides, and for some reason, I couldn't will myself to let go of the thing.

I felt someone tugging on my ankle and then I was falling, ungracefully, through the air and landing on my back with Ludo still tucked safely in my arms. She hooed and nipped at my ear, checking if I was okay, and when I groaned to show her that I was fine, barely, she nipped my ear again and then flew from my arms. I sat up, shaking my head to get rid of the dizziness. No matter how many times I'd traveled through a Portkey, I would absolutely never get used to it.

Fred approached me, a mocking smile on his face, and offered a hand down to help me up. I hid my smirk. He would never learn; I reached up and gave a forceful tug. Unfortunately he fell right on top of me and I fell back down, trying to kick him off.

"Oh, but I thought you _wanted_ me on top of you." He sang, resting his elbows on my stomach. This time I felt my face flush furiously and I pulled his long hair.

"Up. Now." I commanded.

He scrunched up his nose at me. "I am not your dog."

"Fred Weasley, if you don't get off me right this minute, Godric help me, I will hex you." He knew the threat wasn't empty, too, because he turned my hair bright pink third year as a prank and I had him coughing up feathers and laying eggs for a month in revenge.

He was just about to get off me when Ginny shouted, "You two stop flirting and let's go!" This time I really did push him off of me for stalling and stood up. I followed behind the Weasley's. Cedric and his father had already parted ways with us, much to mine, Hermione, and Ginny's dismay.

We finally reached the camping sight, and oh, what a sight it was; there were more people attending this year than four years ago; tents were set up just a few inches apart from each other. People of all sorts were mingling with one another. Food stands had been set up. The smell was intoxicating. At the far end was the arena. It looked smaller from a distance, but up close, and inside of it, it was huge.

I was engaged in a conversation with Ginny about who would win, when I felt someone pick me up and throw me over their shoulder and dart past people in the crowd. "Fred Weasley, you put me down right now or you'll wake up with frog fingers!" I gasped. He wasn't fazed by my threat this time, surprisingly. I heard him chuckle darkly as he continued to run until he stopped abruptly and set me down on my feet. I glared up at him, giving him my most ugly sneer showing him that I wasn't pleased. He just smiled and patted my head and then walked into our tent. Ludo appeared beside me once again and zipped into the tent, probably eager to get a treat.

I walked in and saw her snuggling in the crook of Fred's neck. _Traitor_. I thought sourly and walked to the back of the house sized tent, claiming the bunk with blue sheets as my own. I plopped down and rolled onto my side, closing my eyes. I was hoping that I might be able to get a little nap in before the match started, but that hope of sweet sleep was shattered when someone plopped down beside me, causing me to bounce in the air slightly.

I turned my head and opened my eye, catching a glimpse of red hair. I let out a frustrated groan. "Fred, why can't you leave me alone?" I sighed irritably.

"It's not Fred." A confused, feminine voice said. I shot up, giving Ginny a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," I muttered. She cocked an eyebrow at me and then a mischievous smile consumed her face and she looked me up and down before getting back up. Panic rose up in me and I shot up from the bed. "Wait, what was that look for?" I almost shrieked. She looked back over at me, that same look on her face, and shrugged innocently. "Oh, don't give me that. I know that look. That's the Weasley scheming look! You all have the same scheming face!" I wailed, my palms getting sweaty.

The pretty, long haired ginger rolled her eyes and sat at the end of her bed. "Oh, honestly Davie, calm down. You make it sound like I'm plotting your death."

"Who's death are we plotting?" George asked, sticking his head around the corner.

"Davie seems to think I'm going to kill her in her sleep." Ginny answered.

George furrowed his eyebrows. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Why would who want to do what?" Fred joined his brother in front of us with a curious face.

"Seems our sister is going to kill Davie tonight." George said nonchalantly.

"Why would you do that?" Fred asked.

"I'm not." The youngest Weasley said defensively.

"For all I know you are!" I yelped. "You have that bloody scheming face on and if I wake up tomorrow with—" My frantic raving was cut short when a pillow was chucked at my face by the girl. I pulled it away and threw it back at her with a glare.

"I am not going to kill you. Calm down." She huffed, standing up. She went to leave, but then turned back to me and winked. "But I _am_ scheming something." And then she walked out, leaving me to drown in the paranoia. I hated it when she did that to me. And she did it all the time because she knew how easily I got worked up over things. She also knew that I wouldn't be getting any good sleep—not that I was getting any, anyway—until I figured out what it was that she was planning.

George and Fred walked out after her, saying something about going to go place their bets. I hoped that they listened to me. I didn't know for certain if the Irish were going to win, but I had a strong feeling that they wouldn't lose. I usually second guessed myself with things like this, but this wasn't a decision for me; it was a decision for my two best friends and their dreams for opening up their own fantastic shop, so I put my second guessing worrying aside for their sake.

The tent was silent, except for Ludo in the corner, perched on a lamp, eating some type of treat Fred must have given her. I looked back at my cot and jumped on it, burying my face in the soft pillow. I genuinely hoped that I would be able to get some sleep without the nightmares this time, even if it was only for thirty minutes or so.

But I always had the nightmares.

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**A/N: I hoped you liked this first official chapter! **

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Hello, Death Eaters

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Two: Hello, Death Eaters**_

Sadly enough, my nap only lasted for five minutes. I was about to drift into the sweet blackness of sleep, but then suddenly I was being hoisted into the air and placed on the floor of the tent in one swift motion. With hazy eyes I looked up at the culprit and wasn't surprised to see Fred smiling down at me with his hands on his hips. "Tournament's about to start." He said brightly. Giving him the finger and a sour look, I pushed past him and joined Ginny and Hermione outside before he could say something that would make my mood worse.

Ludo was perched on Hermione's finger, showing her loving affection. I smiled at the scene. Hermione and I were friends, close friends, maybe even best friends, especially since last year after she punched that eel Malfoy in the nose. He had made a snide remark about me and then one about herself, and she just…punched him. It was remarkable, really. Hermione wasn't the physical type, and I honestly didn't think she had it in her to in flick pain on someone unless her life was in danger, but the anger got the better of her and she broke his nose. We all laughed for days about it while the eel cried to his daddy about the scar that it would leave.

An ugly scar for an ugly person, if you ask me.

"What's wrong with you?" Ginny asked as we followed her father towards the stadium. With slanted eyes I looked behind me and saw Fred and George engaged into a very heated conversation, wild hand gestures and all, and scowled.

"Your damned brother won't let me sleep." I grumbled, pulling my long dark brown hair into a loose bun at the nape of my neck.

"You haven't been sleeping?" Hermione asked as Ginny looked back at her brothers and smiled sadly with a little sigh.

"She has nightmares." The redhead answered for me. "She wakes me up screaming all the time. I've taken up sleeping on the couch."

"Not my fault." I shrugged. And honestly it wasn't. I didn't know why the nightmares came every time I shut my eyes. I was scared of a lot of things, small things, like the dark and ocean creatures, and things like that, but not enough to have nightmares about them. These random horrid dreams didn't make since to me. I wasn't upset. I wasn't afraid. I wasn't having bad thoughts. So it didn't click.

"I can make you some Dreamless Sleep Potion when we get back to the Burrow if you want." Hermione offered casually.

I smiled gratefully at her and said, "That would be amazing, thanks."

"Yeah, I'll be able to sleep in my bed again." Ginny said happily. I rolled my eyes at her but smiled none-the-less and started up the endless amount of stairs to where we would be watching the game. Five minutes into the climb, my legs started screaming at me that that was enough walking.

"Dad, how far up are we?" Fred asked from behind me, a little breathlessly.

"Yeah, I can't do this anymore." George said, equally as breathless.

Arthur turned back to answer, but a snarky, annoying voice beat him to it. "Well, let's put it this way: if it rains, you'll be the first to know." Looking up I saw Lucius Malfoy and his eel son, Draco, looking down at us with smug smirks on their faces. I swear, every time I looked at their faces, it looks like they've smelled something completely rotten. It wasn't a flattering look, but then again, they weren't flattering people. They were dressed in their finest robes, but they still looked like a donkey's ass.

"Father and I were invited to the Minister's box," Draco boasted and I rolled my eyes. "A _personal_ invitation of Cornelius Fudge."

"Gloating isn't needed." Lucius said darkly, shoving the serpent head of his cane in Draco's stomach. "These people aren't worth it."

Draco eyed me with that disgusted face of his, finally realizing that I was standing there, and I could feel my cheeks growing warm. Here we go: "Well if it isn't Gryffindor's disgrace: the Cowardly Lion." He said with amusement. I looked away from him, awkwardly shoving my hands in my jumper pockets, and tried to not notice the amused looks on his and his father's face. "Though, I guess all you Gryffindor's are a disgrace. This one's just extra disgraceful." I gritted my teeth, feeling hot tears starting to sting my eyes. I shut my eyes tightly and then opened them and blinked rapidly. There was no way in hell I was going to cry, especially not in front of the two most fowl things on this planet.

"Sod off, Malfoy." Fred's voice sounded with venom. I looked up and saw that he was now standing in front of me. Everyone around us shared an equally pissed look on their faces.

I reached up and grabbed Fred's arm. He snapped his neck down at me and I could see the vein in his forehead pulsing. "Fred, it's fine." I said softly.

"No it's—"

"Let's go." I cut him off and pulled him away forcefully so that he would get the point. The others followed after us and we continued to climb the stairs to the top where we would be standing. I finally let go of Fred's arm once we made it to the top because I knew he wouldn't waste the effort to go back down there and shout at Draco, no matter how pissed off he was.

We walked to the railing and watched as the referees got everything ready. The game was going to start in two minutes. Fred let out a long huff of air and said, grimly, "I don't know why you just don't hex him or something."

I didn't look at him as I said, "Because that's what he wants. I'm not going to let him know that he bothers me."

"You've only had to deal with him for three years, soon to be four." He muttered, cracking his knuckles.

"And next year is my last year. I'll survive." I pointed out.

We were silent for a few seconds, and I had thought that the subject had been dropped, but then I realized that I was talking to Fred, and the subject would never be dropped. Proving my point, he said, "I still don't see why you don't hex him."

I sighed deeply and petted Ludo as she swooped down from the sky and sat herself on my shoulder. "Because I have more fun hexing you." I bumped his hip with mine and smiled.

He smirked at me and crossed his arms over his chest, shutting his eyes. "I would hex you back, but I'm a gentleman."

He peeked at me with one eye and I giggled. "Pft. In your dreams, maybe." I poked his chest and he held his hand over his heart dramatically. The boy could be an actor, he really could.

He closed his eyes and said, with a dreamy smile, "In my dreams I am the gentleman and you are my lady and we are dancing." I coughed and looked away from him. I could feel my face growing hotter and hotter by the second. I was about to respond with some sarcastic statement, but then the Weasley's all shouted "Krum!" and the delightful explosions started and the Quidditch World Cup had begun.

"The boy has the attention span of an owl." I whispered under my breath. Ludo pecked my ear, having heard the comment, and I laughed, stroking her head and pulling my wand out. I made a treat materialize in my hand and fed it to her. She was happy again. All was forgiven.

I looked down at my wand and smiled sadly; it was my mother's wand. It was the only thing I had left of her. When Dumbledore brought me to the Weasley's after my parent's deaths, they brought her wand, too, hoping that it would choose me when I was of age. It did choose me. It was 14½ inches, Pine, with a Kelpie hair core. Yep, Kelpie hair, the shapeshifting water demon who likes to kill helpless people. Kelpie hair is said to be inferior to wands, but it worked for my mother, and it worked for me, too.

Putting my wand back in my back pocket, I twisted the metal ring on my thumb and bit my lip as the Bulgarian's earned another point in Quidditch. The ring was a silver raven, in honor of Ravenclaw; it was my father's ring, and again, the only thing I had left of him. The two mementos I had left of my parents were probably my most prized possessions.

Bulgaria earned another point and Fred squeezed my arm. I looked up at him, but his eyes were glued to the game. I looked over at George and saw that he was practically gnawing on his bottom lip. I held my breath and decided to pay attention to the game for once. Panic rose up in me and I closed my eyes, breathing steadily. Fred and George had everything riding on this game. The gold they could win off this game would just be one step closer for them to be able to open their own shop, and if I screwed that up for them because I told them to bet for the wrong team, I didn't know what I would do.

Suddenly, Fred's grip on my arm got tighter and I was being yanked into his chest. Ludo flew from my shoulder and into the sky, squawking, annoyed by Fred's gesture . I looked around as he began to jump up and down and everyone wearing green was shouting in victory.

"We won!" Fred shouted, still holding on to me.

"We did?" I asked, unsure if he could hear over the crowd.

"Davie, you're a genius!" He yelped and then kissed me straight on the mouth.

Yeah.

Straight. On. The. Mouth.

He pulled away from and let me go as quickly as he grabbed me, his face the same shade of red I assumed mine was: tomato red. "Erm…" I scratched the back of my head, looking away from him.

"It—it was a victory kiss. Meant nothing." He clarified unsteadily.

I shrugged. "Right, of course." And feeling the need to break the awkward tension I hugged him again and beamed up at him. "You're welcome for making you rich!" He hugged me back, thankfully, and then George joined us, wrapping his arms around us both and squeezing tightly.

"We're rich, Freddie, we're rich!" He chanted happily. I looked over at the others and saw Hermione and Ginny with their arms crossed and their faces skeptical. I gulped and mouth 'What'. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned away. Ginny gave me a look like I was the stupidest person on the face of the planet and then mouthed 'We'll talk later'. She then pointed two fingers at her eyes, extending them out to me, and then turned away. I gulped again. I prayed to Godric that she would just forget about it.

Twenty minutes later, I was running with Fred through the tent. We were all laughing and celebrating the victory as fireworks lit up the night sky in greens and silvers and reds. George entered the ten last, carrying a huge bundle of gold, spilling some of it on the floor. I saw Ron about to make a comment but then a louder, closer, ground explosion rang through our ears, silencing our fun.

"What was that?" Harry asked, trying to conceal the fear on this face.

"It was probably just a firework." Ron said, though I knew he didn't believe it.

Suddenly, Arthur burst through the tent, red faced. "Kids, we have to go." That was the point where Fred grabbed my hand and squeezed it. With the accidental kiss minute ago, I should have pulled my hand away, but I was too scared. He knew I was scared, too, because I was shaking. Another explosion went off outside and Arthur gathered us outside. "To the Portkey, and stay together! Whatever you do, stay together!" He shouted over the screams that sounded through the night.

The fun was over and it was replaced by a growing fear.

Smoke started to clog my lungs from the burning tents. Masses of people were running and screaming in every direction, and I had to fight to keep my grip in Fred's. Overhead I saw Ludo following us. Relief washed through me that she was okay, but it only lasted for a second because my hand came out of Fred's and I was swept away into a mass of running people. I called out to him, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I was pushed to the ground and curled up into a ball, shielding my head, as people trampled over me to get to safety.

Some were shouting the words "Death Eaters" and I wondered what the hell that meant.

When I opened my eyes and sat up, I saw a large, cloaked person walking up to me. He was wearing a black mask, completely shielding his face. He held his wand out to me and my stomach dropped. He was going to kill me.

But then he didn't kill me.

He/she/whatever, cocked their head to the side and then walked away. I let out a nervous laugh and then stood up. Ludo swept down to me and nuzzled herself in my chest. I wrapped my arms around her small body, trying to get my shaking to stop, and willing my breathing to return to normal. Things were still on fire, and everything was a complete mess, but the worst looked to be over.

"Davie!" I snapped my head forward and saw Fred and George running up to me. They hugged me and I was grateful that they were okay.

"You alright?" They asked in unison. I laughed and nodded.

"Just a few bumps and bruises. Where is everyone else?" I didn't see Arthur or Harry or the others anywhere.

"Waiting on us to find you." George said.

"Come on, let's go." Fred said.

I didn't argue.

But still, I couldn't get the sight of that person out of my mind, and how they just left me alive, when they were obviously going to kill me. What changed their mind? Was killing not their intent? Were they just there today to cause havoc and fear and not death? I didn't know, but the two words, _Death Eater_, swam around my brain. I refrained from asking Arthur and decided that I would ask my Slytherin informant on the train to Hogwarts in three days.

**-X-**

"Tell me about Death Eaters." I said, swinging the cart door open to where two of my best friends were sitting, waiting for me while I got changed in my robes. Mason, just about the only Slytherin anyone could stand (except the Slytherin's of course), spat out his drink, knowing that I was directing the question to him.

"W-what?" He asked, wiping his mouth with his shirtsleeve. I sighed and plopped down beside Talia, my fellow Gryffindor. She swung her feet in my lap and I placed my hands on her ankles, giving Mason a serious look.

"You're a Slytherin. You're a Pureblood. Tell me about Death Eaters."

The boy looked at me with uneasy dark blue eyes and took a deep breath. "Death Eaters are the followers of the Dark L—Voldemort. They strive to cause pain and death and their goal is to rid the Wizarding World of Mud—Muggle-Born children. Most were arrested after Voldemort was defeated and others went into hiding." He explained to the fullest of his abilities.

Talia, a Muggle-Born, slightly shot him a dirty look for the almost slip of his tongue for saying 'Mudblood'. He smiled sheepishly at her and shrugged slightly. Though Mason was the only Slytherin containing a heart, he was surrounded by the bastard ones every day when school started, so the word was bound to slip up. He usually caught himself, like he did this time, but if he didn't we didn't think much of it because he didn't mean it. Seriously, though Mason had his dick moments and could be quite the cunning manipulator, he was a genuine person. The other Slytherin's hated him for it, that, and his two best friends were the "enemy" (Gryffindor's). And, there was the fact that he was gay and completely fine and open with his sexuality. That little fact there is what got him kicked out of his home and disowned by his parents third year. He lives now, actually, in London with Talia and her family.

Talia and Mason could be related, now that I think about it; they both had jet black hair, were pale, and extremely tall. The only difference was their eyes; Talia had dark brown eyes and Mason had dark blue eyes. And Talia had an assortment of dark freckles on her face and arms.

I met them in the oddest way: Mason and Talia had started to become friends halfway through first year. I was walking by them one day in the courtyard, trying to get to my next class. They were skipping and trying out joke spells on one another. I got caught in the crosshairs of Talia's 'frog tongue' spell and, well, we've been friends ever since.

"Well they're not in hiding anymore." I said, bringing my mind back to the present.

Talia and Mason's eyes grew wide. "How do you know?" Talia asked.

"Because they graced us with their destructive mannerisms at the Quidditch World Cup. Didn't you see the article about it in _The Prophet_? It was on the front page, along with that damned Dark Mark in the sky." I hadn't noticed the Dark Mark that night, but I was it in the paper the next morning. It was a green skull of smoke, with a snake coming out of its mouth and circling around it like a shield.

"Death Eaters use that as their signal to Voldemort. They usually make it when they kill someone." Mason added.

"Well that's not good." Talia stated simply.

"What's not good?" George asked, entering the cart. I shot Talia and Mason looks that said to not say anything about what we had just been discussing. I didn't want the Twins to know that I was worried about it, especially Fred, because he would never let it go.

"That you're ugly." I said with a smirk. George narrowed his eyes at me and smiled tightly.

"Sometimes your words hurt, Olsen." He said, sitting down beside Talia, who removed her legs from my lap and practically jumped all over her boyfriend, giving him kisses and hugs.

"I think you're beautiful." Talia said to him, then turning to me and sticking her tongue out. I rolled my eyes, turning away from the scene and looked out the window. It was growing dark, and the stars were shining brightly overhead. Fred sat down in front of me and thrusted his long legs into my lap, wrapping them around my waist. I groaned and glared over at him.

"Comfortable?" I asked.

"Very." He said with a pleased smile and shut his eyes. Ludo was sleeping on his shoulder. So that's where she wandered off to.

A comfortable silence filled the cabin; Fred and Mason asleep, George and Talia in their own little world. I shrugged to myself and leaned my head against the cool window, seeing no other option than to try to get some sleep myself.

The night we got back to the Burrow, Hermione had whipped up some Dreamless Sleep Potion for me. It lasted all of two days, and I had to say it was marvelous to be able to sleep without screaming in the night. I was out of the potion now, though, but I hoped that the nightmares would stop on their own.

_Hoped_.

_**Fire. **_

_**That's the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed was that it was black. Black fire. Should be impossible, right? And it was impossible, that's how I knew I was dreaming.**_

_**Black fire swept around me, circling around me like I was its prey and it had just captured me and was waiting to pounce on me for dinner. Everything was blurry around me, like I was spinning. When I looked up I could see the faces of my friends. Talia looked bitter, her face twisted in an unattractive manner. Mason looked like he wanted to punch something. Fred and George looked stunned, then disappointed. Hermione and Ginny looked like they were about to cry, their eyes exceptionally wide, bulging. Harry was looking straight at me, emotionless. **_

_**I was confused.**_

_**I tried to call out to them, but my voice wasn't working. I tried to step out of the fire, but it singed through my clothes, scorching my skin and sending me to my knees. I tried to cry out again, but nothing happened. The fire consumed me. I was burning alive.**_

"We're here." I snapped open my eyes to the husky voice in my ear. I jumped up, my heart racing. Fred and the others were giving me confused looks and I turned away from them, staring out the window, trying to calm myself down before I looked back over at them. I felt a hand on my shoulder and flinched slightly, pulling away.

"What?" I croaked out in a paper dry voice.

"We're here. Time to get off the train." Mason said through a yawn. I nodded and walked passed them all, out of the cart and followed the other students off the train. I waited for my friends to exit after me.

"You alright?" Fred asked, the last the step off the train. Ludo was still perched on his shoulder, her eyes closed, possibly still asleep. She could sleep through anything. Lucky bird.

"Fine," I muttered, crossing my arms, unable to look him in the face. "Just, ah, anxious to get into the school." I tried to give him a convincing smile, but I don't think it worked all that much.

It took him a few moments to respond, but when he did, he loosely draped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me towards our friend group to where they were patiently waiting. "Well, don't worry; I'm sure this will be the best year yet."

"Yeah, I'm sure it will…" I mumbled softly, still unable to get the fresh nightmare of black fire out of my head.

I just hoped that Fred was right.

* * *

**A/N: So why did the Death Eater leave her alive? Hmm...we'll see. The Triwizard Tournament will be starting soon. Those chapters are going to be very fun to write.**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	4. What She Doesn't Know

**A/N: Just a littler disclaimer: I did use lines from the movie. Mainly Dumbledore's lines. And from this point forward, I'll be using lines here and there, mostly just important ones. I don't want to put a disclaimer at the beginning of every chapter. So. Yeah. Here it is.**

* * *

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Three: What She Doesn't Know**_

Just as we were entering the school, Talia pointed to the sky and squealed. We all looked up and saw a blue carriage being pulled to the ground by twelve huge winged horses. Hagrid was below them, pointing red signs for where they should land. As the coach got closer he dove to the ground, almost getting crushed under it. Every single one of us watched in amazement and wonder. Mason grabbed my arm and pointed out to the Black Lake, where a large pirate ship was ascending. Students started whistling and cheering at the sight.

Magic was truly amazing.

"Settle yourselves!" A clipped woman's voice rang above everyone else's. Everyone grew quiet and turned to see the Transfiguration's Professor, head of Gryffindor House, and Deputy Headmistress, McGonagall standing at the front entrance of the school, an impatient tight line on her birdlike face. She motioned for us to follow her into the school, and we did, eager to find out who those new people were and what exactly they were doing at our school.

We entered the Great Hall and took our seats at our rightful tables. Candles lit up the space above us. The teachers sat at their rightful places in the front of the room, Dumbledore in the middle of them all. McGonagall led a fresh batch of new students through the middle of the Great Hall, stopping just before a chair. They formed a pristine line, some looking more frightened than others. I remember when I was the one standing up there six years ago. I was terrified. Terrified of what house I would be sorted into. Terrified that I would disappoint the values of the house. It seems of what I was terrified of is what came true.

McGonagall started calling out the names of the new first years and everyone grew quiet. Except for the lovely people surrounding me at my table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were talking with Neville and Seamus about the "unicorns" and ship. Talia was busy making googily eyes at George, while the Twins were busy whispering together, probably coming up with a scheme to start off the new school year. I looked to my left, all the way over, and saw Mason sitting hunched over at the Slytherin table. No one was talking to him. No one was paying him any attention, actually. He had his head rested in his hands. I wished that he was over here with us, with the people who actually gave a damn about him.

"…what do you think, Davie?" Fred's voice pulled me out of my feeling-sorry-for-Mason trance and back to the conversation I wasn't paying attention to.

"What do I think about what?" I asked, wishing that the Sorting Hat would hurry up so I could eat already. I was sure my stomach could be heard growling across the room.

Fred and George rolled their eyes at me. "About a first prank." Fred said.

George moved around his twin to look at me. "We were thinking about flooding the Slytherin bathrooms." They looked pleased with themselves about the idea. I wasn't fazed.

"Armatures." I said.

"What?" They asked with narrowed eyes.

"Are you in first year again?" I asked. They still looked confused. "Oh, come on. I'm sure the two greatest pranksters of the school could come up with something better than flooding a bathroom." I elaborated. Their expressions didn't change. I sighed and tried to think of something, rubbing my temples. "Just…why don't you make small potion bombs that when set off give the person it comes in contact with some type of amphibian anatomy." They instantly perked up.

"You're obsessed with frogs." Fred observed.

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't specify which amphibian to turn them into, but yes, I do love those things. Even if some are incredibly creepy."

"Right, well, you'll have to help us make the bombs, then." George said.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

By the end of the ceremony, we had twenty new members to our table. The Sorting Hat was taken away and the food appeared on our tables. My stomach growled loudly and my mouth watered at the sight of all the delicious, hot food. I selfishly loaded my plate with some potatoes and a chicken leg. My cup filled with apple juice and I dug in like I had never eaten before.

"Slow down, Davie." Ron said with a mouth full of pudding. "It's not like it's going anywhere."

"You're one to talk; you're already on your second plate!" I muttered, trying to not let any food unattractively fall out of my mouth.

"I'm a guy." He countered.

"And I'm a girl. What's your point?" I asked dully, shoving more food in my mouth to prove a point. Everyone settled down when Dumbledore stood up and made his way over to the podium in the front middle of the room.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts," He began in a booming voice. The Great Hall was silent, everyone waiting for him to continue. It was amazing how the old wizard could command an entire room so effortlessly. "Now that you've all settled in, I would like to make an announcement: this castle will no longer be your home this year, but the home to two other visiting schools." At that point, everyone broke out into chatter again and the old, white wizard closed his mouth to let everyone get out what they wanted to say.

The doors opened to the Great Hall and Filch, the ill-tempered, long, greasy haired caretaker trotted down the middle towards Dumbledore. The wizard bent down to listen to what the man had to say and then nodded and Filch ran back out of the room.

"What do you think that's about?" Fred asked, eyeing the scene curiously.

I shrugged, still eating away at my food. "Guess we're about to find out."

Dumbledore cleared his throat, willing everyone to be silent again. "Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: the Triwizard Tournament." Everyone started talking again. I looked around, confused. I had no idea what the hell that thing was, and I wanted everyone to shut up so I could understand what was going on.

"Brilliant." Fred and George whispered. I turned to them and put my finger up to my mouth, shushing them in a hiss. They stuck their tongues out at me and I tried to hold back a smile. I failed.

"For those of you who don't know," The wise wizard continued. "The Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school, a single student is chosen to compete."

"I'm doing it." Fred declared.

"Not if I get chosen first." George muttered.

"I'm better looking, so of course I'll get chosen."

"Well I'm—"

"Oh, would you two shut up." I glared over at them and Fred pulled my hair innocently.

"Let me be clear: if chosen, you stand alone. And trust me when I say, these contests aren't for the faint of heart." Dumbledore went silent and a slight chill rocked my body. I had a flashback of my dream with the black fire and shivered. It meant nothing. Absolutely nothing.

From the corner of my eye I could see Professor Snape glaring at me intently. I gulped, wondering what that was about. He was usually always glaring at Harry. I was always invisible to him. Oh, please, just make him look away. And he did. I sighed deeply and looked over at Harry, who was watching Dumbledore, waiting for him to go on. "Now, on to some other exciting things: please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their Headmistress, Madame Maxime!"

The doors opened and we all turned our attention to the front. I dropped my fork and gaped open mouthed at the girls standing in the doorway; they were beautiful, absolutely stunning. Everyone must have thought so, because when they walked down the middle of the room, all eyes were on them. They sighed, and when they got to the front of the room, blue butterflies flew from their open arms. Fred and George were watching them with wolf eyes, as was Ron, which earned glares from Hermione and Talia. I would be lying if I said they didn't intimidate me with their fantastic good looks, but it's not like I was expecting to get a boyfriend this year, anyway.

The girls took a bow at the end of their performance, and everyone in the room erupted into whistles and claps. A giant woman with a bob of brown hair walked down the middle behind them and stopped in front of Dumbledore, letting him take her hand and kiss it like she expected a gentleman to do.

Dumbledore stood back in the center of the room and held his arms out silencing the crowd. "And now, from the north, the proud sons of Durmstrang Institute and their Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff!"

The doors opened again and there stood handsome—men. No, they were not boys. Definitely not. They entered down the middle, like the girls, but instead of being dainty and dancing, they marched down, banging staffs onto the floor that gave off yellow sparks and then proceeded to do martial arts at the center of the room. We watched in awe. Well, all of the girls and some of the guys did. Most of the guys were glaring at them and rolling their eyes. I heard Talia squealing next to George and could just picture how red his face was.

"Bloody hell, that's Viktor Krum." Ron said in a squeaky voice as the man from the Quidditch World Cup walked down the middle after his school mates.

To end the show, a boy breathed into his wand and a ring of fire swam out in the formation of a dragon, I think. I wasn't quite sure because I couldn't get a good look at it before I turned away, the black fire images pulsing through my head again. I pushed my food away and laid my head down on the table, squeezing my eyes shut. _Just go away, just go away_. I pleated with the images.

The talking in the room grew muffled and _**suddenly I was standing in the circle of black fire again. Only, the room wasn't spinning anymore. Around me were my friends and other students. They didn't look disappointed this time; they looked like they were crying.**_

"_**What's wrong?" I called out, but they wouldn't answer. My voice floated around me and then the scene vanished**_ and I was back in the Great Hall, staring at the concerned face of Fred.

_What the hell was that?_ I asked myself. A vision? Couldn't be; I wasn't a Seer. Maybe it was just my imagination playing tricks on me. I was just exhausted. That's all it was.

"You alright, Davie?" Fred whispered in my ear, lightly touching my back.

I nodded slightly. "Just a headache is all." I willed myself to sit up, despite the pulsing pain in my head. Some people had just brought in a gold jeweled case with a large point on the top of it. Dumbledore moved to stand beside it and waited until we were all quite to speak again.

"Your attention please." He boomed. "I'd like to say a few words before the night is done." He reached up, placing his hand on the casket, and my head exploded in pain. I bit my tongue and squinted my eyes to keep from crying out. If I did that I would just look more like an idiot than I already was. I didn't need to give people another reason to poke fun at me. "Eternal glory," Now that had everyone's undivided attention, including mine. "That's what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament. But to do that this student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks."

"Wicked." The Twins said. I looked over at them, giving them a look that said they were stupid. They shrugged at me and I turned back to the talking Headmaster of our school.

"For this reason, the Ministry seemed it fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this, we have the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation's, Bartemius Crouch." As Dumbledore said the man's name, the candles blew out above us and thunder and lightning sounded. Rain started to pour and some people screamed in fear. I looked up at the roof with wide eyes. Never, in the history of me being here, has something like that ever happened. Dumbledore and the teachers stared in awe, and it was obvious that they hadn't seen anything like that, either.

From the back corner of the hall, a big man with stringy, ear length blonde hair and a fake eye held in place with an eye patch, aimed his wand up at the ceiling and a ray of red shot up, diffusing the rain and returning the candles. Everyone started at him gratefully, but still scared as to who he was and what he was doing here. I looked over at my friends, who shrugged. The man watched us all with his fake eye as he walked over to Dumbledore. It was a piercing electric blue. It made my skin crawl.

"That's Mad Eye Moody." Ron said from down the table. "Hear he's as mad as a Hatter these days." Made since, because that's exactly what he looked like. He didn't look stable, like he was a bomb that could go off at any second. "He was an Auror." Ron said in a low voice.

"Auror?" Someone questioned.

"A dark wizard catcher." The redhead clarified.

Moody and Dumbledore shook hands and then Dumbledore stood back in front of the room while Moody made his way to the sidelines to watch. Crouch stood in front of the casket and said, "After consideration, the Ministry decided that for their own safety and the safety of the students, no student under the age of seventeen should be allowed to put forth their name in the Triwizard Tournament."

The room was in an uproar.

"That's not fair!" Fred and George shouted. I shared a thankful look with Talia. We were both thinking the same thing: at least Fred and George wouldn't be killed. I looked over to the Slytherin table and saw Mason give me a wink. Though he was of age to put his name in for the tournament, I wasn't as worried that he would. He didn't want eternal fame and glory. At least, I didn't think he did. He was a Slytherin, after all, and they were very fickle creatures. He winked at me, though, and that put me even more at ease.

"Silence!" Dumbledore shouted over everyone. They shut their mouths, fearing the wrath of the powerful wizard. Dumbledore wasn't mean at all, but just the thought of him being mad and dueling out a punishment was enough to make even the buffest man pee himself. He raised his wand and gently tugged it down, making the case of gold disappear and in its place was a large goblet. Upon seeing it my head pulsed again, but I tried my best to ignore it. A light blue flame lit in its opening but in my vision all I could see was the black fire from my nightmare.

"Stop it." I hissed under my breath. I squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them back up the flame was blue again, but my head was still pounding. There was a loud ringing in my ears that made Dumbledore's words muffled, but I tried to listen all the same.

"The Goblet of Fire," He said proudly. "Anyone wishing to submit themselves into the tournament need only to write their name on a piece of parchment and place it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly. If chosen, there's no turning back." The man said gravely. "As from this moment, the Triwizard Tournament has begun."

Everyone cheered around me, but I just held my head in my hands, trying to calm down before it was time to leave for our rooms. My head felt like it was being ripped in two. Sleep. I just needed sleep. Tomorrow everything would be back to normal and the nightmares would go away. I would watch as someone from our school participated in the Triwizard Tournament and I would cheer for them and be happy with my friends.

Little did I know that the Triwizard Tournament would be the starting point where my life would change forever and everything I thought I knew would prove to be false.

**-X-**

"_**Why would you do this?"**_

"_**How could you do this?"**_

"_**What were you thinking?"**_

"_**Were you even thinking at all?"**_

"_**You're going to die. We can't help you."**_

"_**You're so stupid, honestly."**_

_**Voices circled around me as I floated through black water. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move; I was like a statue. The voices grew louder and louder until I felt my body hit the sandy bottom of the water. Sea creatures swam past me, not paying me any attention. The voices got louder and more pronounced as they spoke as the same time. Repeating the same things over and over and over again.**_

_**My lungs were burning with fire, straining and begging for me to give them air. But I couldn't. My limbs were too heavy to move, weighed down by the water pressure. A light blossomed in front of me, and floating inches away from me was Fred, unconscious. Something was tied around his foot, holding him in place. My body jerked and I tried to scream out to him, but nothing happened.**_

_**He disappeared and I was alone. I was always alone.**_

_**And then I shut my eyes and died.**_

I bolted up in the bed, gasping in deep breaths of air. My heart was pounding in my chest and cold sweat was pouring down my temples. I looked around the room, everyone was still asleep. That meant that I hadn't been screaming or crying out. Good. I didn't want Talia to know that I was having nightmares this bad. I didn't want her to worry.

Throwing the sheets off of me, I grabbed my wand from my bedside table and started to the door. I looked back to see that Ludo was still asleep on my pillow and smiled softly. At least one of us was able to sleep without problems.

I quietly walked out of the room, whispering _Lumos _and a faint light appeared at the end of my wand so that I wouldn't trip and fall down the stairs as I made it down to the common room. When I reached the bottom I saw my two favorite redheads huddled closely on the couch, whispering. I coughed, causing them to stiffen in fear.

"Oh please, you can't possibly be afraid of me." I said, coming to sit down in front of them.

"On the contrary," George started.

"You can be very scary." Fred finished and flashed me a smile. I rolled my eyes and looked at the coffee table where they had papers with diagrams on them sprawled out.

"What's all this?" I asked with sudden curiosity.

"Nothing," George said quickly, grabbing the papers before I could get a good look at them. I raised a skeptical eyebrow, noticing a small blush appear on Fred's cheeks.

"You're not very good liars." I pointed out.

"You'll find out very soon." Fred mumbled and smiled at me. I felt my chest tighten. Whoa—what was _that_? That's never happened before. My eyes grew wide slightly and I looked away to regain myself.

"So let's hear it then." I muttered.

"Hear what?" They asked in unison.

"The plan to enter your names in the Goblet of Fire." I said boredly. They looked at me in shock and I stifled a laugh. "Oh, come on. I'm not stupid. I know you're planning on getting past the age limit."

"In fact we are." George said proudly and looked over at his twin with a large smile. "But we're not telling you."

I pursed my lips. "And why not?"

"Because it's a surprise." Fred said, standing up from the couch and patting me on the head.

"But won't you need my help?"

"Not this time." Fred said rather proudly. I glared at him and puffed out my bottom lip. He adverted his eyes away from me. _Ouch_. George looked at the two of us and then sighed, standing up himself and grabbing the papers.

"We're off to bed, then." He started up the stairs and Fred ran after him.

"Night Davie." They said and then entered their dorm.

I looked around the room. I suddenly felt overwhelmed by the big space. I curled up on the couch, levitating a blanket over my body, and cut out my light. Maybe I would be able to get a better sleep out here. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the thunder and rain outside.

Tomorrow would be better.

Just please let tomorrow be better.

* * *

**A/N: Only one review so far? Ouch. I'm a little hurt. Oh well. I'll still update. Please review if you like the story, though. Reviews make me happy and tell me that people actually like this story.**


	5. The Big Three

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Four: The Big Three**_

Tomorrow was not better.

It started off with me waking up on the common room couch, completely stiff and aching from the springy couch. If that didn't make matters worse, I was still completely exhausted from maybe an hour's worth of sleep due to the same drowning nightmare over and over again. To top it off, I was running late and nobody tried to wake me up.

Grumbling some choice words to myself, I climbed the stairs back to my room and took a scolding shower. The water made my skin tingle and I hoped that it would wash all my sleep away so that I would be able to function until night time again. I made a mental note to myself to sneak into the potions room tonight and make a Dreamless Sleep Potion. Enough to last me a while because I had a feeling that these nightmares weren't going to stop any time soon.

After I was dressed and spent a good twenty minutes calling for Ludo, who didn't show up anywhere, I stuffed my wand in my robe pocket and ran to the Great Hall for breakfast. "You're late." Talia said as I plopped down in the seat beside her. I snorted and began piling eggs and bacon on my plate.

"Well I wouldn't be if someone woke me up." I muttered, pouring myself a class of orange juice.

"And have you punch me?" She barked. "Like hell." I shot her a half smirk and then began eating. Three bites in I realized that the table was too quiet. Looking around I didn't see my favorite twins anywhere. Ron, Hermione, and Harry weren't even sitting at the table.

"Did everyone die or something?" I asked.

"Huh?" My best friend gave me a confused look, so I elaborated:

"Where is everyone?" I asked slowly.

"Oh," She shrugged and I rolled my eyes. She was so slow sometimes. "Fred and George said something about getting something ready for Wednesday night… I'm not sure what. And I haven't seen the trio all morning." She shoved the last bite of toast in her mouth and stood up, wiping the crumbs from her skirt. "Hurry up; we have to get to class. We're already five minutes late."

My eyes grew wide as I shoveled the rest of my eggs in my mouth. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" I yelped, jumping up from the table and throwing my bag over my shoulder. Talia grabbed my hand and began leading me out the school doors. "Wait, I don't have my schedule." I protested.

"I have it."

"Then give it to me." I demanded, trying to jerk away from her. She kept her grip solid. I never realized how strong she was for such a skinny girl.

She shook her head and continued pulling me towards where Hagrid's hut was. "We have the first two classes of the day together. I'll give it to you when we get to when we get to Care of Magical Creatures."

I perked up at that, realizing that my first class of the day would start out with Hagrid. I liked the man. He was funny and nice and he made amazing tea. "Have you seen Ludo?" I remembered that I couldn't find her anywhere this morning.

"She's with Fred." Talia answered simply, like this was nothing new. I scowled. That owl of mine had been spending an awful lot of time with that ginger lately. It didn't worry me, because Fred was good with her, but I did miss her nipping at my ear every time she saw me. I pushed thoughts of her out of my head when we reached the hut and snuck in behind some Ravenclaw's, hoping that Hagrid wouldn't give us detention for being late. The man never gave detention unless it was to Slytherin's, anyway. He eyed us and then winked. We were in the all clear.

First hour seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, I was walking to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with Talia. As we pounded up the stairs we saw Hermione, Ron, and Harry stopped by the window, circling someone.

"Neville, are you alright?" Hermione asked, touching him on the shoulder. He stayed quiet and sniffled.

"What happened?" Talia asked, stopping in front of the group.

"Moody is the new DADA teacher." Ron said.

Talia and I raised our eyebrows. "So?" I said.

"He used the three unforgiveable curses during class. He said he wanted to show us firsthand what they could do." Hermione explained. Talia and I shared a glance and I felt the muscles in my stomach contract. I put a hand on Neville's shoulder and he looked up at me, agony spread all over his face. I smiled kindly at him, trying to give him some reassurance. His lips didn't even twitch. He shrugged my hand off and then treaded down the stairs. The three other teens gave us 'good luck' glances and then followed after their friend.

"Well this should be interesting." Talia muttered as we walked into the classroom.

"Can't wait." I muttered back, spotting Fred sitting with an empty seat beside him. I slid in next to him and Talia sat beside George at the table beside us, groping each other under the table. I rolled my eyes at them. They were like rabbits.

"They're like rabbits, I swear." Fred muttered beside me. I sucked in a breath and giggled. "What?" He turned to me with a large smile on his face.

"I was just thinking that." I continued to laugh.

"I must be psychic." He wiggled his fingers at me and I grimaced, feeling a slight sting in the back of my head. "You okay?" He asked with concern. I waved it off as Moody walked into the room, his wild eye scanning over everyone and landing on me. It stayed on my face for longer than I would have liked before he walked over to the chalkboard and wrote his name on it.

"I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody. I'm only here because Dumbledore asked me to. That's it. No questions. Let's get started." He said fast, walking over to the table in the front of the room and eyeing a poisonous bird locked in a steel cage. It was a deep red color with yellow eyes and black feet. A Siberian Blackfoot is what it was called. Apparently it was the most poisonous bird in the Wizarding World.

My stomach clenched. I knew what he was going to do. It made me sick.

"Which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?" The man asked, walking back over to the chalkboard.

"Three." Someone from the back of the room called out.

"And they are named because?"

"They're unforgiveable." The same person answered. I looked around to make sure Hermione wasn't in the room. That was probably mean, but the girl answered every question the teachers at the school threw out. She was smart. Extremely smart. I envied her for it most of the time.

"They're a one way ticket to Azkaban." George threw in.

"That is correct." Moody turned back to us, a deep scowl on his face. He threw down the chalk and I jumped. I saw Fred smirk at me from the corner of my eye and fought to not pinch him. "The Minister says you're too young to see what these curses can do. I say differently. How will you learn if you don't have experience?" He walked back over to the bird cage. "Who can tell me one?" He looked over everyone. For once, no one said anything. "Fifty points to the house who can give me an answer." He bribed. Still, no one answered. "Ashford!" He shouted.

"Yes," Talia's voice sounded strong and unfazed. Unlike me, who was scared and on the verge of a panic attack. But that was Talia for you; she was a true lion: brave and courageous.

"A cures," Moody aged on.

"The Imperius Curse." She said thickly, obviously not wanting to say anything at all. She kept her gaze strong on the man. He smiled. _Smiled_. And then opened the cage of the bird and shouted _Imperio_, causing all control and movement over the bird at his will. He made it dance around the room, dipping forward in the faces of some students. I closed my eyes tightly, wishing that he would just stop. It didn't matter if the bird was poisonous; it was still a living creature and didn't deserve to be his puppet.

"Another curse." He muttered, stopping the bird by throwing it against the window and sliding it down to the table. I bit my lip. Hands went up. "Olsen," But he called on me instead.

"What?" I asked, opening my eyes and rubbing the bridge of my nose. My voice sounded harsher than I intended, but I really wasn't in the mood to watch him torture an animal at this point. Between my lack of sleep and now my splitting headache, I just wanted to go back to my room and_ try_ to sleep.

"A curse."

"The Cruciatus Curse." I muttered, closing my eyes again. I didn't want to watch what was about to happen.

"_Crucio_!" He shouted and then the bird started screaming in agony. I placed my hands over my ears and began rocking back and forth. **I saw bodies on the ground and black boots weaving through them. I was watching from above. Watching hooded figures torture and kill innocent people. A woman was screaming and a baby was crying. A green flash lit up the sky and then it was only the baby making sound. A man bent down in front of the baby and rubbed its head. Then he disappeared. And the baby was left alone in a mass of dead bodies, crying, wanting someone to save her.**

"Bloody hell, stop it!" Fred's shout and hand banging on the desk tore me out of the nightmare and I looked up at him. His face was red with anger and his fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were turning white. Moody looked up at him and then ceased the curse. The bird grew quiet and the class waited. The pain in my head began to dull and I felt drained. Fred placed his hand on my back and began rubbing small circles in attempt to calm me down.

"And the last curse." Moody went on like nothing happened.

"The Killing Curse." Talia muttered under her breath.

"The name." Apparently the professor had heard.

No one dared say it.

He waited a few moments and then said, "_Avada Kedavra_!" And the bird fell to the floor dead and I flung my head down on the table as hard as I could, trying to get the image of that poor bird out of my head and the images of that damned nightmare I had just had gone. Bile started to rise in my throat and I stood up, almost tripping on my chair as I turned to leave. "Olsen, sit down." Moody barked. I ignored him and ran from the room. I jogged down the corridor until I got to the girl's bathroom. I pushed through the door and dove into the first stall I could find.

I closed my eyes and placed my head in my hands, leaning back against the stall door. A woman's scream echoed through my head again and I clenched my jaw.

What the hell was that back there?

What the hell was going on?

I couldn't believe I lost it like that.

I exited the stall and washed my face off with some cool water. Looking at myself in the mirror I scoffed; my skin was pale and my usually bright blue eyes were dull like rain water. I had heavy bags under my eyes and creased sleep lines on my face. I looked like a total mess, and it was only the first day of school. This school year might actually be the death of me.

When I regained my composure, I exited the bathroom and came face to face with my friends. I jumped back a little and asked, "Shouldn't you be in class?"

Talia sighed and held my bag out to me. "Class has been over for five minutes."

I looked away, pulling my bag over my shoulder. "Oh," I whispered softly. How long had I been in that damned bathroom?

"You feel better?" Mason asked. They must have told him what happened. Embarrassing. Completely embarrassing. I nodded slightly and forced a smile. I didn't think they believe it, though, because they all continued to look at me with pity in their eyes.

"Well, we should all probably get to class…" I muttered and made to leave. Fred caught up to me. "Gonna follow me to make sure I'm safe?" I teased.

He shook his head and smiled. "Though that would be a temping offer, no, we have the next class together."

My eyes grew wide slightly. "I didn't know you had an interest in Astronomy."

He shrugged. "It was either that or Deviation. I chose the latter." I nodded in understanding. Barely anyone could stand taking that class, though it was easy, Trelawney was completely mental. We were silent for a few minutes as we made our way through a stream of people, and then he asked what was really on his mind and what I really didn't want to answer, "What happened back there?"

I avoided eye contact as we walked into the classroom and took our seats in the back of the room. "Nothing," I muttered, taking out my book, still not looking at the concerned ginger.

"Obviously it was something." Fred pressed on.

"I just got a little worked up is all." I blew some hair out of my face and gave him a hard look, hoping that he would get the point and stop pestering me about it. He didn't. But before he could say anything else, the professor walked into the room and class got started. I was thankful that my head didn't hurt throughout the class and nothing triggered another nightmare. Maybe it was finally over.

Or maybe I was wrong.

Seems I was always wrong.

**-X-**

The days passed, the nightmares remained, and finally it was the Wednesday before the names picked for the Triwizard Tournament were to be announced. I ran inside the Entrance Hall, completely soaked from the rain, and took a seat beside Talia, Hermione, and Mason. "Have I missed it yet?" I asked, looking around for the Twins. Apparently they had some brilliant scheme that was going to let them put their names in the Goblet of Fire. I was sure that it was going to fail, but I didn't tell them that.

"Not yet." Talia answered. "Where were you?" She kept her eyes glued to the pretty blue flame coming out the top of the goblet.

I wrung out my hair and put it in a bun on the top of my head. "I was having tea with Hagrid."

She raised an eyebrow at me and smirked a little. "Why?"

I shrugged. "He's good company. Plus, you know I love his tea." I watched as students one by one dropped their names into the fire, hoping that maybe they would be picked for the tournament and reign the victor.

"Maybe if I was of age I would put my name in there…" Mason muttered. Talia and I looked over at him with wide eyes. These past few days he's been extremely glum, but he wouldn't tell us why.

"I thought you didn't care about fame or eternal glory?" Talia asked, mimicking Dumbledore's voice. Poorly, I might add.

He shrugged his shoulders and then leaned back where he sat. "Maybe I would care."

"Who are you trying to impress?" She asked, nudging his arm with a wink.

"My parents." He said bluntly, staring straight ahead. Talia and I looked at each other, sharing sad looks and dropped the subject instantly. Mason never got over the pain from his parents disowning him and kicking him out, though what child would? He tried to not let it bother him, we knew, because he didn't want to give the other Slytherin's another reason to mock him. He never talked about his parents or made any acknowledgement about them. Talia and I knew that he hurt, but we just didn't know how much. Weren't best friends supposed to know all that?

Suddenly people started clapping and I looked over to the center of the room where two boys were shoving Cedric Diggory towards the goblet. They were chanting at him to put his name in the fire. I watched curiously. We all did. Cedric entered the blue ring around the goblet, gulped, and then placed a piece of parchment into the burning flame. He smiled and jumped on his friends, leaving the room once again.

"You think Cedric will win?" Talia questioned.

I shrugged. "If he can fight for his life the same way he plays Quidditch, I'm sure he'll do fine."

"If he gets picked." Mason added dully. He then stood up and cracked his back. Without looking at us he said, "Let me know if the idiot's plan works. I'm going to sleep." And then he left the room without another word. Talia and I shared concerned glances again, but we knew there was nothing we could do. There was nothing we could do because Mason wouldn't let us help.

Talia opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by shouting. "Yes!"

"We did it!"

Fred and George ran into the hall and everyone started clapping and shouting again. Talia and I stood up and went to stand beside Harry and Ron. "What is it they did?" I asked.

"An Aging Potion." Ron answered. I suppressed a laugh. Who knows, maybe it would actually work.

"We've done it." George said, giving some people high fives.

"Cooked it up just this morning." Fred said, pulling a vial of pearly-yellow-ish liquid from his robe and showing it off to everyone.

"It's not going to work." Hermione sang, closing her book. We all turned to look at her.

"Oh yeah? And why's that, Granger?" The Twins asked, bending down beside her. Fred shot me a wink and I rolled my eyes.

She pointed to the blue circle around the goblet. "That's an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself." She explained.

Damn. Okay, well, maybe it wouldn't work after all.

"So?" Fred rolled his eyes.

"So," She scoffed. "A genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something as pathetically dimwitted as an Aging Potion." The curly brunette scorned, obviously impressed with herself.

The Twins weren't fazed. "Ah, but that's why it's so brilliant." Fred said.

"Because it's so pathetically dimwitted." George said. They stood up on a bench and shook up their vials, ready to down it. "Ready Fred?"

"Ready George."

"Bottoms up." They said and then swallowed the liquid. They shook their heads to get the taste out of their mouths and then linked arms and jumped into the circle. A crowd had formed around them now, watching to see if it would actually work. When nothing happened applause from the crowd echoed off the walls and the Twins high fived each other, putting their names in the goblet. When it didn't spit the paper back out, they high fived again for their victory.

But the victory was short lasted because the blue fire shot out from the goblet and sent Fred and George sailing through the air. Everyone gasped, but when they caught sight of the Twins, they erupted in uncontrollable laughter. Talia and I looked over at each other, holding our sides. We were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. Fred and George now had grey-white hair, bushy eyebrows, and beards. It was far from a good look for them. They shouted at each other and then began rolling on the floor, wrestling. Everyone started chanting "fight" and I sighed heavily. I walked over to the boys with Talia and we pried them apart.

"You had it coming." I said between laughs.

"It was fool proof! Fool proof I tell you!" George wailed.

"Well apparently not, because now you look like dirty old men." Talia muttered, pulling on George's beard.

Fred looked at me with puppy eyes and said, "Davie…" He clasped his hands together and puckered out his bottom lip. Ah, the puppy dog face. Something I couldn't resist even if I tried.

I rolled my eyes and patted his arm. "Yeah, I'll cook up a potion to reverse the effects." He hugged me and then the four of us made to leave, but not before watching Viktor Krum catch the attention of everyone in the room, silencing them. He walked up to the goblet like he was a man on a mission, because technically I guess he was, and placed his name in the fire.

"On second thought, I don't want to be in the tournament." George said after the man left.

"He would kill us. I'm too beautiful to kill." Fred said. I laughed loudly and pulled him into the hallway and towards the potion room, Talia and George trailing behind us. We were going to be up all night reversing this damned thing.

But at least I wouldn't have the nightmares.

* * *

**A/N: Would you believe me if I told you that I wrote the last chapter, this chapter, and the next chapter all last night? Well, I did. I was so excited to get to the Goblet of Fire part, I couldn't stop writing. lol**

**So what's up with Mason? Hmm.**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	6. The Fool

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Five: The Fool**_

The Goblet of Fire stood in the middle of the Great Hall in all its blue fire glory. Students gathered around it, eagerly waiting to hear who would be the three Triwizard Champions. I walked into the hall and took my seat next to Fred and Mason. Since we weren't eating or in the middle of an "important" school meeting, students didn't have to sit with their houses.

"How are you feeling?" I whispered to the black haired boy. I had bags under my eyes, but this was taking it to a whole other level; the black bags under Mason's eyes hung so low, I thought they were about to take up his whole face.

"Better," He was lying. Obviously, he was lying. But he didn't want me to worry. I dropped the subject and put my arm around his waist, giving him a side hug. He smiled weakly at me and ran his hands through my unruly hair. I envied him sometimes; for a boy, he had fantastic hair. Actually, so did Fred and George. This was probably the only time I wished that I had nice hair like the boys.

Dumbledore entered the room, along with the Headmistress and Headmaster of the other two schools and took his place beside the goblet, waiting patiently for everyone to quiet down before he spoke.

I elbowed Fred in the side to get him to shut up. He glared down at me. I smiled sweetly. He rolled his eyes. He couldn't stay mad at me, no matter how badly he wanted to.

"And now, the moment you've all be waiting for." Dumbledore said, looking around at each one of us. "The Champion selection." He waved his hand around the room, dimming the fire lights. We watched silently, eagerly, as he walked over to the goblet. The fire turned a pretty pink-red and then a piece of parchment flew out and delicately landed in the old wizard's hand. "The Durmstrang Champion is, Viktor Krum!" He announced. Everyone shouted in applause. Viktor got up from his seat on the other side of the room and shook Dumbledore's hand before he went to stand by the teachers.

"I'd hate to be in the tournament against him." Fred muttered. "The other two blokes are going to die." He said matter-of-factly.

"Nice to see how much faith you have in the person from our school." I muttered back.

He shrugged. "Well it all depends on who it is."

"Well shut up and find out; the fire's red again." I pointed forward and we watched as the blue flame turned a pretty cherry red again and out floated another piece of paper into our Headmaster's hand.

"The Champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" He announced. The girls in blue uniforms squealed and hugged and a girl with long, silvery-blonde hair as she stood up and shook Dumbledore's hand. The last piece of parchment flew out and the man announced who would be the Champion for our school, "The Champion for Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory!" Cedric stood up in all his beautiful glory and went to join the other two champions in the front of the room.

"Figures." Fred scoffed.

"Don't be jealous." I sighed.

"Jealous? Me? Of what? He's going to get himself killed. Nothing to be jealous of over that." I opened my mouth but he cut me off, "And don't you dare say he's prettier than me, because we both know that's a _lie_." I clamped my mouth shut and narrowed my eyes at him but smiled none-the-less.

"That's it!" Dumbledore commanded the room again, his arms wide. "We now have our three Champions. But in the end, only one will go down in history as the Triwizard Champion. Only one will hoist this Challis of Champions. This Vessel of Victory. The Triwizard Cup!" He pointed to the front of the room where Crouch tore a piece of cloth from an object to reveal a transparent ice blue and silver cup. Everyone clapped and whistled in excitement. It was beautiful.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Snape staring at something with concerned eyes, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I followed his gaze and saw the fire in the Goblet of Fire whipping around like crazy. I grabbed Fred and Mason's arms, squeezing them. Something wasn't right. My stomach dropped and the ache in my head was back. The fire turned an unpleasant red this time. Dumbledore approached it, shielding his eyes from the brightness of the light. A piece of paper flew out of the goblet and landed in Dumbledore's open hand.

"Harry Potter." He mumbled, disheveled. He looked up at everyone and raised his voice. "Harry Potter." Everyone turned to look at the black haired boy with round glasses. I held my breath. He looked absolutely confused and terrified. He sank down in his seat, obviously thinking that it was a mistake. "Harry Potter!" The Headmaster shouted. The boom of his voice made me jump. I closed my eyes as the pounding in my head grew more intense by the second.

Hermione pushed Harry out of his seat and he walked over to Dumbledore. I could see that he was trying to contain his shaking. Dumbledore handed him the piece of paper with his name on it and they stared at each other as if they were having a mental conversation. Harry began walking to the back of the room where the other Champions were, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"He's a cheat!" Someone shouted.

"He's not even seventeen!" Another person shouted.

Everyone shook their heads at Harry as he walked passed them. They turned away, disgusted. "I wonder how the hell he was able to pull that one off." Mason whispered in my ear.

I kept my face on Harry and said, "I don't think he did…"

Dumbledore turned to follow after the poor boy, but then something happened.

Something _big_ happened.

Something _impossible_ happened.

Something from my _nightmare_ happened.

The fire from the goblet turned black. _Black_. And a searing pain consumed my head. The fire whipped around uncontrollably like a pissed off snake. Some people started screaming. I let go of Fred and Mason's arms as the fire made a dive for my head. I ducked down just in time so that it wouldn't scorch my hair. I looked back up at everyone, feeling my face flushed a cheery red. At this point, Mason and Fred had scooted away from me. I bent down and held my head in pain as the pounding grew more intense. _No, no, no, no, no!_ This couldn't be happening. This just wasn't possible.

But it was possible.

It was possible because the fire spat out another piece of paper and Dumbledore caught it. He unfolded it carefully and then said, "Davilla Olsen." He muttered. I could feel everyone's eyes still on me, growing more and more narrow by the second. He said my name again and I looked up at him. I shook my head but he motioned me down. I stood up, almost tripping over my own two feet, and walked down to him with shaky legs. Harry might have been able to hide his fear, but there was no way I was able to hide mine.

I reached Dumbledore and looked back at my friends. As in my nightmare, Hermione and Ginny looked like they were about to cry. Talia looked bitter, her face twisted, her fists tight. Mason looked as if he were about to punch a hole through the wall. George looked stunned and Fred looked disappointed. I couldn't read Ron. Looking over to where the teachers were, I saw Harry, staring at me with wide, emotionless eyes.

"It's a mistake." I mumbled so that only the professor could hear. He just shook his head at me and held out the piece of paper. I shook my head. "I can't—I can't…" He continued to hold out the paper and with a deep breath and a shaky hand, I grabbed it. I turned away from him and shut my eyes as I made the walk of shame to where Harry was standing. McGonagall touched my shoulder as I passed, giving me the saddest look I think she's ever given to a student before. I looked away from her and followed Harry down some stairs and held my breath the whole way.

This _was_ a mistake.

It had to be.

I couldn't compete in a competition like this.

Harry and I walked down to a chamber filled with gadgets, joining Fleur, Viktor, and Cedric. They gave us confused, questioning looks as shouts were heard coming down the stairs. Harry moved to the side and I moved with him, latching on to his arm as a very angry Dumbledore charged at us.

"Did you put your name in the Goblet of fire?" He asked us.

"No sir." We said at the same time.

"Did you get one of the older students to do it for you?"

"No sir." We answered again.

"You're absolutely sure." He wagged his finger in our faces

"Y-yes sir." Harry answered.

Dumbledore turned to me with weary eyes. I opened my mouth in an 'o' and practically screamed, "I—I wouldn't even put my name in the goblet if I could!" I cried. "You know that! I'm too much of a coward to do anything like that!" It was at this moment and this moment only that I was proud to admit that I was a coward. Maybe it would get me out of it.

"They're lying." Madame Maxime stated as she walked into the room. I shook my head violently and Harry just stood there, dumbfounded.

"The hell they are." Moody came to our rescue. "The Goblet of Fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object. Only an exceptionally powerful Confundus Charm could have hoodwinked it." He explained. Even though I didn't like the man, I nodded with every word he said. Maybe he would be able to get us—me out of this mess. "That's magic way beyond the terms of a fourth year and a sixth year." He added for emphasis. I kept nodding, ignoring that he had just insulted my magical abilities.

_Please just listen to him. Please just make this go away._

Harry and I backed away together as we watched the professors argue some more. The real three Champion's eyed us from in front of the fire place suspiciously. "What happened?" I whispered to Harry.

"I have no idea…" He said. And I knew that he wouldn't have a clue, but that's something you're supposed to ask in situations like this, isn't it? You're supposed to ask that question and the other person is supposed to have the answers. But he didn't have the answers. Apparently no one in this room had the answers. "What do we do if…" He trailed off, not sure what words to use.

"Oh, please don't say that. Harry… I can't. I can't do it. Honestly. I won't be able to. I'm practically having a heart attack right now just standing here listening to them argue about our fates." My heart was racing and my hands had become clammy. The throbbing in my head had stopped, but that was the least of my worries right now.

Finally, the teachers turned to us and Crouch said, with wide eyes, "The rules to the Tournament are absolute," My heart stopped. "The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract." My knees buckled. "Mr. Potter and Miss Olsen have no choice. They are, as of right now, Triwizard Champions." I fell to the hard floor and Harry came with me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders in hopes to comfort me. I held my head and let silent tears fall down my face. Looking back up I saw that the teachers were giving us their most pitied looks, even Snape.

At least Harry had a chance. He was the _Chosen One_, after all. But I, on the other hand, was Gryffindor's _Cowardly Lion_. There was no chance for me.

My fate was sealed.

I was going to die.

**-X-**

Dumbledore offered to walk us back to our dorms later that night once we had calmed down. (Really, I was the only one who needed to calm down from my silent hysterics.) While Harry allowed him, I convinced him that I was fine and walked back to the Gryffindor common room myself. But first I took a detour to the bathroom and scrubbed my face with ice cold water, hoping that it would wake me up from this nightmare. I was already awake, though, and now I was in the Triwizard Tournament until the very end.

Merlin, just do me a favor and kill me now.

When I exited the bathroom I was yanked into a broom closet forcefully. Before I could scream a hand clamped down on my mouth and I was being shoved against the hard wall. Through the light of a _Lumos_ on the person wand, I saw the familiar face of Mason. I sighed from relief, calming my hammering heart down.

"Bloody hell Mason, you nearly gave me a heart attack." I said in a hushed voice as he removed his hand from my mouth.

"Did you put your name in the goblet?" He skipped the small talk and went straight to the point.

"No, of course not. How could you think I would?" I was hurt by his lack of faith in me. The boy sighed and propped his arm up on the wall beside my head.

"I just had to ask… Everyone is mad at you."

My eyes grew wide. "Why?"

"Because they think you put your name in the fire." He said bluntly.

"I would never do something like that!" I hissed defensively.

"_I_ know you wouldn't, but do you really think they care? Listen, I'm just warning you that when you step foot into that common room, you're going to get your head torn off. I'm sure they've already interrogated Harry a million times. Talia is pissed." He looked at me the whole time he spoke. His dark blue eyes were shining with something, but I couldn't quite make out what it was. Looking over at his clenched fist, I saw fresh cuts on it.

"What happened to your hand?" I asked, forgetting about me for the time being.

He looked over at his hand and then shrugged and removed it from the wall. "I was angry."

"You should let me heal it for you." I offered.

He shook his head. "Keeps my mind off of things. I'll be fine. But like I said, be prepared when you walk in there." He looked at me seriously again.

I took a deep breath. "Why is Talia pissed?"

"Why do you think?" He looked at me stupidly.

"She honestly believes that I would put my name in the fire like that? She honestly thinks I have the courage to do something so…deadly?" My chest hurt. How could my best friend have such little faith in me?

Mason sighed and shook his head. "No one knows what or who to believe right now. All they know is that your name came out of that goblet and you're underage. They're livid."

"More like jealous." I scoffed, trying to lighten the mood if only for a few seconds.

Mason tried to hide a smirk. "I guess you could say that. It'll all blow over soon, though, the anger. Everyone will be back to normal in a few days. And Talia can't stay mad at your for long, you know that." His words of encouragement weren't so encouraging, but I tried to not let that show.

"Why aren't you mad at me?" I raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin.

He shrugged. "I had no interest in the tournament to begin with. And you're my best friend. I don't care if you've made a stupid decision—"

"I didn't do it—"

"I'll stand beside you."

I smiled and touched his shoulder. "Very noble of you. Don't let the other snakes hear you talk like that."

He hissed a laugh. "Like I give a rats ass what those wankers think of me. The sooner I graduate from this school the sooner I don't have to see their faces ever again." He pushed open the closet door and hung his head out, making sure that we were in the all clear. "Good luck." He gave me a quick hug and then headed down the hallway back to the Slytherin common room in the dungeon. I shivered. There was no way in hell I would be able to go down there, none-the-less live down there.

I slumped my shoulders and continued walking back to the Gryffindor Tower. As I stood in front of the Fat Lady, I remembered what Mason said:

_They're all pissed at you. _

_Just give it a few days and they'll get over it. _

_They all think you put your name in the goblet. _

_Talia is pissed._

It was great to know that all my friends except for one had totally lost faith in me. I entered the common room and came face to face with the dragon, literally. Talia was standing by the fire place, her arms tightly crossed over her chest and a deep scowl consuming her face. The Twins were sitting on the couch, in front of them was Ginny and Hermione. When they heard someone enter, their faces turned towards me and Talia flared in anger.

She ran up to me, getting in my face, and shouted, "What did you do?"

I flinched back, backing up against the wall and looked to my other friends for help. When they did nothing I said, as calmly as I could, but my voice still cracked, "I didn't do it."

The long black haired girl pulled away from me and continued to shout. "Bullshit! Your name was pulled out! We all saw it!" She flung her arms in the arm for emphasis. "Damn black fire, too."

My palms started to grow sweaty and I wished that I would stop shaking. "I swear to you, I didn't do it. I'm sixteen; I couldn't have put my name in there." I ran my hands through my hair and looked in the face of each one them. The only one who truly looked convinced that I was innocent was Hermione. So I added, "And honestly, if I was the right age, I wouldn't have done it anyway! I don't want to be a Triwizard Champion—I don't want to die!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Talia flinched back from me at the word "die". I kept going, "You're my best friend, I expected better of you! I can't believe you would lose faith in me like that. The same with you lot!" I gave everyone else a heartfelt glare across the room. Fred looked away from me the instant my eyes met his. I felt my heart breaking. I didn't want to lose him as a friend. I didn't want to lose any of them as friends over something so—so—_out of my control_.

The room was silent for a few minutes, everyone debating what to say. I ran my hands through my hair again and slid down the wall, hugging my knees to my chest. Finally, Ginny said, "Okay…so if you didn't do it, who did?"

I shrugged, defeated. "That's what we're trying to figure out…"

"What did Dumbledore say?" Hermione asked quickly.

I smirked as the words "As of tonight you are a Triwizard Champion" flashed through my head. I rubbed my temples to get rid of the fresh tears. I had already cried enough for a dozen people tonight. "That I have no choice; I have to compete. I am a Triwizard Champion." I said scornfully with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Everyone sucked in a breath, and for that moment, I could honestly say that they were speechless.

"What?" Talia breathed, her eyes huge and scared. _Finally_, she felt as scared as I actually was.

I nodded and cleared the lump in my throat. "I…I have to compete…" I said again. I looked around the room once more. They all looked as defeated as I felt. Fred still wouldn't look at me. "The first task starts in November…and I have to do it." I started messing with some fuzz on the floor to avoid their gazes.

"But…but…what about Harry?" Ginny asked.

I almost caught myself snorting. "He has to do it, too." Ginny got up from the couch and ran to her room. Hermione followed after her. Talia came over to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her to see fresh tear tracks on her pale, pretty face. Her eyes were so wide, so innocent, like a child's.

"We'll help you win, I promise." Talia said in a strong voice. Everyone nodded and made sounds of agreement.

I laughed slightly. "I don't want to win—I just want to stay alive."

She squeezed my shoulder. "We'll talk more in the morning." She whispered and then went to tell George goodnight and then headed up to the six year girl's dorms. I stayed on the floor, staring at the ceiling, wondering if there was any possible chance I might have in getting out of the tournament. Death seemed the only option. And I didn't want to die. Not yet. I mean, I would be dying in November, and I didn't want to die earlier than that.

I came to the conclusion that I would, inevitably, have no choice in the matter and have to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Just like Crouch said. We had no choice. This was _our_ fate—my fate.

Fate was a cruel bitch, wasn't she?

I stumbled out of my thoughts of death when I felt someone sit down beside me. "Do you know what the first task is?" Fred asked softly.

"Not a clue." I muttered.

He looked over at me and asked the question I already knew he had the answer for, "Are you scared?"

"More than I ever have been in my life." I admitted with little shame. I felt fresh tears brimming my eyes and his arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me close. I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes until the un-fallen tears disappeared. Opening my eyes back up I laughed slightly and asked, "So, you wanna help me make some Dreamless Sleep Potion that'll last me the rest of the year?"

He chuckled and said, "Sure," He stood up and held his hand down to me. I took it and he pulled me up, not letting go of my hand, but holding it firmly. I looked up at him and in that moment I swear that's the scaredest I've ever seen Fred Weasley look. "Everything will be okay." He said quietly, rubbing circles on the top of my hand with his thumb. He tried to sound convincing, for himself or me or both, but it didn't work.

I half smiled and said, "Of course it will."

That was the biggest lie I had ever told myself for the sake of others.

* * *

**A/N: I loved writing this chapter. I can't wait to write about the first task! I have so many ideas-it's going to be so fun!**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	7. All Good Things Are Unexpected

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Six: All Good Things Are Unexpected**_

I didn't get much sleep the next few days. Between half the people in my house thinking I was a disgusting rule breaker trying to get famous and the other half rooting for me to win, plus everyone else either hating me or loving me, it just fed to my nightmares. I had made enemies with the other three houses, especially the Hufflepuff's; Cedric wouldn't even acknowledge my existence anymore, though the first time he ever noticed me was at the World Cup. I tried to stay low as much as I could, but like Harry, the other unwanted victor, attention was drawn to me with every turn of my head. It was tiring.

I was leaving my Study of Ancient Runes class that next Monday, hurrying to get to lunch. My appetite hadn't really been anything these past few days, but today it started to kick in again after I had skipped breakfast. I felt like I would pass out if I didn't have anything in my stomach. I was almost in the main entrance of the school when a trio stepped in front of me, blocking my path. It wasn't the _Golden Trio_, either, it was the _Snake Trio_: Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

I held my head low as I tried to pass by them, but they moved themselves in front of me in every direction I tried to take. "Well if it isn't the Cowardly Lion." Malfoy sneered. I kept my head low, refusing to look at him. Out of the corner of my eye I could see students stop what they were doing and walk closer to us, interested to see what was about to happen.

Brilliant.

I tried to move past Malfoy again, but he pushed me back roughly. I looked up at him this time, glaring daggers into his head. He wore the same snarky smirk as always, looking like he had just smelt something insanely foul. He was always thinking that he was better than everyone else.

"Leave me alone." I muttered darkly and tried to walk past him again.

He pushed me back again. His mindless minions stood on either side of me so that I couldn't go anywhere. Looking up I saw Talia, Mason, Fred, and George run outside, Neville in the front, pointing at us. Mason made a move to come towards us, but Talia held him back. She watched me and nodded slightly. Apparently she thought that I could handle this myself. For once. Seeing as I was going to be fighting for my life, sure, why not, let me take down this fourteen year old bully who was bigger than me and had an even bigger and scarier father he liked to cry to about everything. Greeeeaaat. Nice plan.

"What's the matter?" He asked, stepping closer to me. "Going to go have a nice cry before you die off in the first task?" He spat in amusement. Crabbe and Goyle burst into laughter and Malfoy gave them a look of displeasure that shut them up immediately.

I stood up straight, as straight as I could, and gave him my coldest stare. "I said leave me alone, Malfoy." I kept my mouth in a tight line and didn't let it waver when he rolled his eyes at me.

"You know, my father and I have a bet." A smirk tugged his lips. "You see, he thinks you'll last five minutes. I don't think you'll last five seconds." Everyone around us started laughing and I could feel my cheeks growing red. I shoved my hand in my robe pocket and clenched my fist around my wand. We weren't supposed to duel on school grounds. Students weren't supposed to duel each other unless it was for a class. And while I wasn't planning on hexing the slimy Slytherin, I felt reassured to grip my wand. He must have caught what I was doing, because he shoved his hand in his robe pocket as well.

I was quiet for a few moments and then said, "You're just jealous."

His eyes grew wide at that and everyone started laughing again. "Oh, of what? Of being a coward?" He taunted.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to fight down my anger, but it was too late; it was already starting to bubble over and I just couldn't take it anymore. "No, that I'm actually in the tournament and you're not. Another thing to disappoint your father with, eh?" My words were harsh. Harsher than I had intended them to be, laced with venom. Everyone around us sucked in a breath and from a few feet away I could hear my friends start to giggle.

Rage flashed through Malfoy's storm-grey eyes and he shouted, "_Carpe Retractum_!" A long rope shot out of the tip of his wand and I jumped out of the way, just barely missing it. I rolled to the ground on my stomach, drew out my wand, and shouted:

"_Expelliarmus_!" Malfoy's wand shot from his hand and landed in the bushes. Before he could runaway I added, "_Anteoculatia_!" And his ice blonde hair turned into two large antlers sitting upon his forehead. He shrieked and everyone around us burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, applause, and whistles. Crabbe and Goyle grabbed their leader and drew him away from the scene. I continued to lie on my stomach as the students regained their composure and went about what they were doing before Malfoy decided to be a show off and lose. Miserably.

I sighed heavily, pressing my hand to my chest, feeling the unnaturally fast beat of my heart. I put my wand back in my pocket and realized that my hands were shaking. Never, in the six years that I had been at that school, had I ever done something like that. I was too afraid of confrontation to ever fight back. But I must say, while I was scared, it felt good to stand up to that prat. Maybe now he would leave me alone.

"That was bloody amazing!" George shouted as my friends ran over to me. Fred extended a hand down to me and he pulled me back on my feet. I dusted off my uniform and smiled meekly at the group.

"I honestly don't know what came over me." I muttered.

"Don't apologize for it!" Mason said, slapping me on the back.

I shook my head and tugged some hair behind my ears. My hands were still shaking. "I didn't think I had it in me. He just…pissed me off so bad." I fidgeted with my hands, unsure of what to do with them.

"See, and you think you'll fail at the first task." Talia said aloofly, draping her arm over my shoulders as we began walking back towards the entrance hall.

I scowled. "That's different; if I was fighting Malfoy I would win. I don't know what I'll be fighting in a month. I'll probably lose."

"Did you not just see what you did?" Fred shouted in a high pitched voice. "You're the quickest person I've ever seen with a wand! There's no way you'll lose, no matter what it is."

"Yeah," Everyone agreed.

I smiled gratefully at my friends. "I'm glad you have such good faith in me. We'll see though." We entered the Great Hall and took our seats at the Gryffindor table, parting ways with Mason as he reluctantly slumped over to the Slytherin table. From the other side of the room I could see McGonagall talking to Dumbledore, her eyes shifting to me ever so often. I gulped. "Looks like my reign as queen is going to be short lived." I said just as the old woman nodded at the Headmaster and began making her way over to our table.

"You will forever be the master." Talia said.

"Your name shall go down in history," George said.

"As the best damn queen who ever walked the halls of Hogwarts." Fred said. I opened my mouth to say something, but an un-amused voice beat me to it:

"Miss Olsen, come with me." McGonagall said. I gulped and stood up from the table, grabbing a buttered roll so that I at least would have something in my stomach while I sat in detention for Godric knows how long. My friends saluted me and I covered my mouth to hide my laughter. Turning back to look at the old woman, all hints of laughter were gone from my system upon seeing her tight lined face. I grabbed my bag and followed her out of the Great Hall and to her office all the way across the school. As we walked the hallways, Gryffindor's, Ravenclaw's, and Hufflepuff's gave me thumbs up's while Slytherin's glared at me like they were all ready on the verge of plotting my demise. Hell, they probably were.

We passed Ron and Hermione by the library, in which Hermione rolled her eyes at me and Ron gave me a knowing smile and thumbs up. I returned the smile and winked. Even though Hermione was not impressed by my childlike behavior, she never really was up for fun, she slightly smirked and shook her head.

I took that as a victory; I took what I could get.

We were silent as we continued down the corridors. Our shoes created an unsettling _click-clack_ against the stone floor. Finally, when we reached her office, she motioned for me to sit down in the red leather chair in front of her mahogany desk and shut and locked the door back. I placed my hands in my lap and tried to look as rigid as I possibly could. I didn't expect her to yell at me, but I also didn't expect her to go easy on me, either.

The old woman sat down in her desk in front of me and stared at me for a long while before she asked, "How are you doing, Miss Olsen?" My eyes grew wide. I was thrown off guard. Of course I wasn't expecting her to ask me how I was doing. Now, I was just waiting for her to bring out the tea and crumpets. At this point, I wouldn't put it past her.

"How am I…uh, fine, Professor." I managed to stutter out.

"Have you been practicing spells that could possibly assist you in the first task of the tournament?" And there we go talking about my death again.

"I—no—wait, I'm not in trouble?" I just had to clarify before we got too far off topic.

She raised a thin eyebrow at me and leaned closer to me in her chair. "Why would you be in trouble?"

I sat back in the leather chair and continued to look at her as if she had gone mad. I opened my mouth, clicked my tongue, and said, slowly, "Well…I…I hexed Malfoy."

"Ah, yes, the antler thing." She scoffed, slight amusement in her voice.

_The antler thing. _I swore in that moment I loved that woman.

She sat back in her desk with a wave of her hand. I had to force my jaw to not flap open at the sight. "Took quite some time for it to be reversed," She went on and I was still amazed, "But none-the-less, it was reversed and now his hair is back on his head."

"I was hoping he would become bald." I said without thinking and then quickly squeezed my lips together. I could tell she was trying to not smile because the edges of her lips began to twitch. "Wait—if I'm not in trouble, then why am I here?" I wanted to get down to business now. I was missing lunch and missing the gossip with my friends.

Professor McGonagall shrugged lightly, resting her head in her hand. "I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. I know being in the tournament wasn't something you expected to happen. No one expected it to happen—for you or Mr. Potter. But it happened none-the-less and now we must deal with the consequences."

"Like me dying." I said bluntly.

Her face grew dark. "I do not believe you will die, Davilla." Her voice was serious, too.

I almost corrected her on my name, but decided to let it slide. She was letting my hex on Malfoy slide, after all. "You just don't think I'll win." I said quietly. She stayed quiet so I added, "It's okay, though, because I don't expect me to win, either." I sagged my shoulders and sank deeper in the chair. "No one expects me to win, honestly, not even my friends, though they're still being supportive, I know they really don't. I'm sure they all expect me to die." I said what had been on my mind since the confrontation with Talia and the others in the common room that night. They could say that they believed in me all they wanted, but I knew that it was just for my sake. I loved them, but I knew they really weren't expecting much from me.

"You would be amazed at what others truly think of you." She said surely.

I barked a laugh, which caught her momentarily off guard. I sat up to the edge of the chair and said, "I know what others think of me: There she goes, the Cowardly Lion of Gryffindor." I threw my hands up in the air for emphasis. "And before you say something like "that's not true" or whatever you're supposed to say because you're a teacher, let me say: I know I'm not brave." I could feel my eyes tearing up but I commanded them to not fall down my face. Not now. "I know I'm practically scared of everything, and I'm okay with that. I'm not, however, okay with being placed in a tournament against my will and having no say as to whether I'll be dead by the end of the year or not!" I yelped, jumping up from the chair. When McGonagall said nothing and just stared at me like I had gone mad, I sat back down and looked away from her. _I think I ranted a little too much. _I thought and mentally kicked myself in the ass.

She was quiet for a few more moments and then asked, "You're quick with your wand, yes?"

Way to change the subject.

"I've been told that, yeah." I said exasperatedly, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. I honestly didn't see where she was going with this conversation at this point.

"Then use that to your advantage." She said simply.

My eyes grew a little wide. "Huh?"

She sat up in her chair again and leaned towards me over the desk. "You may not be brave, as you say, but you're quick with a wand. You're quick with spells and you know more hexes and charms than anyone at the school. Use it to your advantage and I think you may have something." She smiled at me.

I ran my hands through my hair and asked, "Are you saying you think I might win?"

She stared intently at me. "I'm saying you're going to have a fighting chance." I let out a huff of air. "You need to look deep within yourself, Davilla, and realize that you were placed in Gryffindor for a reason. Unlock your Lion. Your _Courageous Lion_, and lock away the falseness of the _Cowardly Lion_. You cannot let others deem what you are. You have to deem what you are yourself. You are _brave_. You are _courageous_. You are _chivalrous_. You are _daring_. And you have a lot of_ nerve_. Realize that and unlock it." This time I let my mouth hang open. I was at a loss for words at the old woman. All I could do was sit there with a huge gapped mouth and equally as huge eyes. She must have sensed my inability to respond with words, because she added: "Tomorrow you and the other Champions will be meeting with a reporter from _The Prophet_ for interviews. I suggest you get a good night's sleep and eat a hardy breakfast in the morning. You'll be leaving at eight o'clock sharp with the other Champions." She sat back in her desk and turned her attention away from me and picked up her quill, dipping it in black ink.

"Y-yes ma'am…" I whispered breathlessly. I assumed that the conversation—pep-talk—whatever was over, so I stood up on shaky legs and walked over to the door. "Professor," I called quietly, looking back over at her. She was busy scribbling down something on a piece of parchment.

"Yes?" She didn't bother to look up at me.

"Thank you." I smiled faintly. I clicked open the door and put one foot out, stopping when her voice called out to me again:

"You are very strong, Davilla Olsen," My heart was growing even more erratic in my chest with every word she spoke. "You have the golden heart of the lioness. For the days to come and the days in the far future, do not stray from that knowledge." Her voice was eerie, chasing me along the walls as I left. I could only imagine what she meant by that. I would soon find out. Whether I wanted to or not. And oh, I did not.

**-X-**

"She really said all that?" Talia asked in astonishment. My friends and I were all sitting in the Gryffindor common room, gathered around a sizzling fire, drinking hot chocolate. It was a little past midnight, but we couldn't sleep. After the end of the day when I told them about my talk with McGonagall, only giving them the brief story, they had wanted to hear the whole thing. So now we were all tucked into cotton blankets, enjoying each other's company.

I nodded, rather proudly. "Yep, she really said all that."

"And she didn't even give you detention or anything?" Hermione asked with a stunned face.

I shook my head, sipping on the hot, sweet drink. "Nope. She just gave me a pep-talk and then sent me on my way."

"That's incredible." Fred and George asked.

"Well did it work?" Ginny asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Did what work?"

She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "The pep-talk, loser."

I stuck my tongue out at her and shrugged. "…I guess. I mean, I'd like to think that it did. I'm still terrified for the first task…but maybe a little less terrified now."

"Well that's good." Hermione said, her face washed with relief.

"Who did you say you had to meet tomorrow?" George asked.

I shrugged again and finished off my hot drink. "I don't know. Some reporter from _The Prophet_."

"Uh-oh." Everyone muttered with wide eyes and looked at each other.

A knot gripped my stomach. "What?" My bottom lip started quivering with anticipation.

Talia leaned forward and said, "You better hope it's not Rita Skeeter."

I slumped back against the couch and dragged out a deep sigh. "Oh Merlin, I would have that kind of luck, wouldn't I?" I hadn't even thought of that.

"All else fails, you could just give her antlers." Fred smirked, holding his fingers on his head, trying the mimic the antlers I had bestowed upon our least favorite Slytherin earlier that day.

I smiled and threw a pillow at his face. "Oh shut up. I am so tired of hearing about that already."

Fred chucked the pillow back at my face and stood up, stretching. "Well you better get used to it because people are going to be making references to it for a long time." He said with a satisfied look on his face and ruffled my hair. I swatted his hand away and grabbed his ankle as he walked by me, tripping him to the floor. He landed with an oof and then twisted towards me, grabbing me around the waist before I had the chance to get away. He held me with an iron grip against his side. I tried to not look at the accusing and amused looks our friends were giving us. Fred seemed to not notice, because he didn't let me go; instead he started to play with my hair and I grew more comfortable beside him.

Talia coughed, poorly hiding a smirk into her fist and said, "Yeah, it's almost as good as last year when Hermione punched the slime ball."

"I'd say it's better." George spoke up, doing nothing at all to hide his smirk.

"Nah," I waved their compliment off.

"Possibly. You _did_ defeat him in a duel." The curly brunette pointed out, adverting her eyes away from Fred and I, who was still completely oblivious to the world, and opened her book, covering her mouth with the palm of her hand. I'd bet on my life she was hiding a smirk.

What the hell was wrong with all of them?

"It was not a duel." I sighed. "He was just being a prat—"

"And you showed him up." Ginny said quickly. "You totally killed his pride and ego. You won the duel." She nodded with every word and glared at me when I tried to object. I finally gave up on trying to argue with my fellow hardheaded Gryffindor's and leaned farther into Fred. I reached back and grabbed his hand and pulled it away from my hair, inspecting what he was doing.

"I didn't know you could braid." I mumbled so that only he could hear.

"Well I do have a little sister." He mumbled back, laughing softly, causing my body to rock up and down a little.

George coughed and stood up, tearing my attention away from the boy braiding my hair. "Forever our Gryffindor Queen." He smiled and bowed. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the pillow beside me, throwing it in his face. He frowned at me and sat back down beside Talia, dragging her into his lap.

"Do not call me that in front of anyone." I warned with a hiss. George held his hands up in surrender and then told us goodnight, kissing the long black haired girl on the mouth lovingly and then trotted up the stairs to his room. I opened my mouth to say something to Ginny, who was watching her brother and I with sparkling eyes, but before I could, Talia hit her shoulder and nodded for her to get up. Ginny did, and then tapped Hermione on the shoulder, motioning for her to get up as well. The three girls waved and told us goodnight with devilish grins. I watched in confusion as they left to their rooms. "We've been abandoned." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest, wondering what their problems were.

"That's alright," Fred said softly, running his hands through my hair, causing a shiver to roll down my spine. "I like being alone with you." He admitted in the softest voice he could muster.

I closed my eyes and let out a shaky, nervous breath. _Wait!_ Why was I so nervous in front of Fred suddenly? And why—why the hell did my stomach have butterflies all of a sudden?

_Oh, bloody hell._ I was sure at this point my face was completely tomato red. My heart was beating faster than it should and my hands had begun to shake violently and had broken out into a nasty cold sweat. I closed my eyes briefly and had a _what-the-hell-fuck-it-what-could-go-wrong?_ emotion rush through me.

I moved from his stomach and lay down beside him, facing him. The only light in the room came from the fire, which I now had my back to. The flames casted light around me and it hit Fred's face in all the right places, making him look something of an angel. He looked up at me, his bright blue eyes shining with something I couldn't quite pinpoint. His long, orange-fire hair fell in his face and before I knew what I was doing, before I could stop myself, before I could think, my shaky hand gently swept it off his face. He grabbed my hand and pulled it against his soft, flushed cheek.

"That kiss at the World Cup…" He breathed, closing his eyes briefly.

"Meant nothing…" I trailed off, my voice barely above a whisper. My heart pulled at 'nothing'. Had a wanted it to mean something? Had I wanted to be more than what it was? My mind was too jumbled right now for me to think right.

He smiled slightly, still holding my hand against his cheek, and said, "It didn't mean _nothing_."

My eyes grew slightly larger, my heart in my throat. "What?"

He took a deep breath and said, "Davie, I've wanted to do that for years, and while it was still purely on impulse, it meant _something_. At least to me it meant something."

"Fred,"

"I like you. A lot. Have for a long while. But…this is going to be really awkward if you don't—"

"Fred, shut up." I scowled and then made another bold move (two bold moves in one day, who would have thought I had it in me?) and leaned in closer to him and kissed him on the lips, silencing him immediately. He responded quickly, letting go of my hand and moving his through my hair, untangling the braids he had created just minutes ago. He pressed on the back of my head, moving me closer to him. He held me tightly as the kiss intensified, his tongue skimming the bottom of my lip. I gasped, parting my lips slightly, and suddenly there was a clash of tongues and teeth and lips and he was tasting me and I was tasting him and—_oh_—Sweet Merlin, it was amazing. It was as if lightening had sparked through my body, making me hungrier for more. I pulled at his hair and he groaned roughly, tangling his hand deeper and deeper into my hair.

"_Oh_!" We pulled apart abruptly in hearing someone gasp from the other side of the room. "Bloody hell, I could have gone my whole life without seeing that." It was Ron. I let out an annoyed sigh and touched my forehead to Fred's, who sighed equally, if not more annoyed than me. "You're mental, the both of you. Stay away from each other's faces while I'm down here." He said, coming up to stand in front of us.

"What do you want?" Fred asked, trying to keep the hate from his voice.

"I came down here for some water." Ron stated.

"Then get it and leave." His older brother ordered through gritted teeth, his hand roaming through my hair again. There were some clanking sounds from the small kitchen and then Ron's heavy steps pounded back up the stairs. Hearing the boy's dorm room shut, Fred pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arm around my waist and grabbing a quilt off the couch he had his back to. I wrapped my arms around his torso and buried my face in his neck, breathing in his fresh mint scent.

Neither of us said anything. We didn't have to. There was nothing to be said. The kiss spoke for its self. We just lay there together, me falling asleep from sudden exhaustion and Fred playing with my hair. I had a thought that this is exactly how it should be and smiled to myself, snuggling closer to him.

* * *

**A/N: Good? Yes? No? Maybe? Kinda? Not really?**

**I'll update in a few days, maybe. I'm going to be busy for a while, so I won't have much time to write. I'll try, though!**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	8. She Devil

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Seven: She Devil**_

"Wake up." A deep voice whispered in my ear. I shook my head and buried my head deeper into the soft thing I was lying on. "Love, you have to get up." Fred said, lightly stroking my back.

"I don't function until eight." I muttered tiredly, keeping my eyes closed tight.

"You're going to be late for that interview." He chuckled. "And everyone is staring at us. It's quite uncomfortable." My eyes shot open at that and I could feel my face growing red. I kept my head nuzzled in Fred's neck. Around us I heard Talia and Ginny snickering and groaned. I lifted my head and glared up at my friends through blurry eyes.

"Come on now," Ginny said, reaching for my hand that I still had locked around Fred's neck.

"No," I said defiantly, locking my hands together. Fred laughed in amusement as his sister pried me off of him and to my feet. "Ginny, I hate you." She smiled like a fox and pushed me up the stairs with Talia trailing behind us. Before I was so rudely shoved into my room, I looked back down the stairs and saw George talking to Fred, his arms crossed lightly over his chest. He looked up at me and winked before turning his attention back to his brother. I caught myself sighing with a smile and at that, Talia shoved our other roommates out of the room and locked the door. Ginny pushed me onto the bed and both of the girls stood in front of me, their hands on their hips. "What?" I asked innocently, holding back a yawn.

"Tell." They demanded.

I raised an eyebrow. "Tell what exactly?"

"Oh Merlin," Talia sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"You and Fred were asleep." Ginny said, plopping down beside me on the bed.

"Yes, well, that is what people tend to do when they're tired." I said boredly.

Talia scoffed and pointed her finger at me accusingly. "You were asleep _together_." I felt my cheeks turn red again and my friend smirked evilly. "So spill what happened. Don't skip on the details, either." She sat down on the other side of me and I rubbed the back of my head.

"Uh…" I didn't want to tell them everything, but I knew if I didn't say _something _then they would skin me alive. So I shrugged and said, "We, uh, um, kissed." I squeaked.

"Made out or kissed?" Ginny asked skeptically.

I held my head down. "Made out." I mumbled.

"What?" Talia leaned closer to me.

"Can't hear you." Ginny said, cupping her hand over her hear.

I scowled, pursing my lips. I knew very well that they could hear me. I narrowed my eyes and looked up. "We…made out… But then Ron walked in and ruined it." I looked over at the long redhead with a displeased face. She mirrored my face and creased her eyebrows.

"I'll have to smack him." She said matter-of-factly.

"So," Talia said giddily, grabbing my arm and shaking it. "How was it?" She asked eagerly, a huge smile on her face.

"It was," I looked away from her and towards Ginny, who was sharing the same wide eyed look and cheesy smile. "Godric," I got up from the bed and began rummaging through the chest from the end of my bed, taking out my freshest robes for the interview today. "It was…" I was fumbling over my words. That was kind of personal, wasn't it? I mean, sure Talia told me about everything (_everything_) she and George did together, but I wasn't one to joust everything out there. So, I said simply, "It was great."

"Great," The two teens breathed together.

"So, did you like, use tongue?" Talia asked, looking more and more eager with every passing second. Ginny's face twisted up and she got up and made her way towards the door.

"This is where I make my leave." She declared and then left the room, but not before shooting me a happy smile. I turned back to Talia and ignored her as I walked into the bathroom and shut and locked the door so that she wouldn't walk in and pester me. Because yes, she would do that. Even if I was naked. She didn't care.

"I'll just wait out here!" She declared over the beating of the shower. I rolled my eyes and stepped into the hot water, embracing it, letting it fully wake me up. I closed my eyes, lathering my hair and started thinking about the night before. It was amazing. It was completely unexpected. Not just McGonagall staying she believed in me, but the whole Fred thing. I mean, yes, I admit that I'd had a crush on the guy since…first year, possibly. But we were so close, like brother and sister; I never expected it to turn into something like…like last night. I just hoped that it could last, because in this moment, with everything going on, I could truly say that I was happy.

_Unlock your Courageous Lion and lock away the Cowardly Lion._

McGonagall's voice floated through my head.

_I think you have a chance._

And she really did, but I still wasn't so sure. It wasn't as simple as she made it sound. Being in this tournament was crazy scary. I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know if I was going to die. I honestly didn't want to try to begin with, but now, I just didn't want everyone to look down on me. They expected me to lose. Every single one of them. They expected me to make a fool out of myself. They expected me to die.

Well I would just have to disappoint them, now wouldn't I? I would have to. If I wanted to prove myself. If I wanted to show everyone that I was something, then I would have to prove them wrong. I would have to leave behind the Cowardly Lion they thought I was and start something new entirely.

I clenched my fists together as the hot water poured down my back. I nodded to myself and set my mouth in a strong line. Yes. I would work to build confidence. I would work to show them that I was something. I would work to make myself stronger and I would work to keep myself alive throughout this tournament.

I reached up to turn to water off, but was rocked by a sudden wave of sharp pain in the back of my head. I grunted and fell to my knees, shaking my head and massaging my temples. _Not today. Not today._ I pleaded with my brain, but apparently it did no good, because my world was spinning and then darkness fell.

_**Death.**_

_**The smell of death was all around me. I was watching the scene from above, though I could barely see anything through the think, green and black fog. **_

"_**I love you. Remember I love you. Do not let him get you." A soft, choked female voice said.**_

"_**I tried to protect you and your mum. I loved you like you were my own." A dried male voice said. I could hear the tears in his throat. I could feel their pain. I wanted to know who they were. I wanted to know what was going on.**_

"_**You are stronger than him. No matter what anyone tells you, you are not like him. You will never be like him. You are good. You are good." The woman said, and then there was silence. I wasn't floating anymore; I was walking in the blackness. Everything was black. I couldn't see anything. Suddenly, fog rolled at my feet and I heard a blood curdling, high pitched scream, followed by a low shout.**_

_**Then the baby was crying.**_

_**Only the baby's cries filled the empty space. I tried to run to it, but the blackness was never ending. It felt like I was running in place. And the baby continued to cry. It never found peace.**_

_**Another scream. This time, the screaming didn't stop. I fell to my knees in the black and curled up into a ball. Hot tears started to fall down my face and before I knew it, I was falling. I landed in ice water. The shock made me gasp, and then I was sinking again like before in the other nightmare. I sank to the bottom with wide eyes and an open mouth, my lungs filling with the murky water. I was paralyzed from fear. My lungs were burning, begging for me to swim up to the top and let them breathe. But I couldn't.**_

"_**You will be mine." A deep, hushed, husky voice whispered. It sounded like paper in the wind. It sounded evil. It sounded close. "You will join me or die." For some reason, I knew who he was without actually knowing who he was. My brain knew immediately. **_

_**I closed my eyes, choosing death as my fate.**_

I was brought back to the present by a sting spreading on my face. I opened my eyes and began choking on water. I was lying in the shower floor, cold water beating down on my face. Looking up through the water, I saw Talia bending over me, her face consumed in fear. Realization hit me that I was still in the shower. If I was still in the shower, then I was still naked. If I was naked, then Talia had seen me in all my glory. I should have been embarrassed, but I was suddenly too tired to care at this point.

"What the hell happened?" She asked, her voice laced with concern. I squinted my eyes as chills shot through my body and my skin got prickly. I sat up, swayed a little, and turned off the water.

"What do you mean?" I asked slowly, pinching the bridge of my nose. That nightmare had been, hands down, the most horrible that I've ever had.

"You were screaming," She said bluntly, hooking her arm under mine when I started to stand. She helped me to my feet and grabbed a wool towel, wrapping it around my body. "And when I came in here you were passed out."

I shrugged, trying to play it off. "I must have just fainted."

She looked unconvinced. "You've never fainted before."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Well there's a first time for everything." I snapped harshly. Her concerned expression did not waver. I sighed, sitting down on the edge of the tub and said, more softly, calmer, "It's probably from all the stress about the tournament. I'm fine, really." But in all honesty, I didn't know if I was fine. I didn't know why I was having these nightmares, but I knew I wasn't going to tell her about them because I didn't want her to get scared for me. Me being scared was enough.

I stood up and walked past her, moving back into the bedroom and beginning to get dressed. "Davilla," I straightened up my back. She only ever called me that when she was angry at me or wanting me to pay attention. I looked up at her and then quickly looked away again when I saw that her eyes were shining with un-fallen tears.

"Talia, I'm fine, really." I said softly.

"And you would tell me if you weren't?" She asked, walking closer to me. I didn't look at her.

_No. _"Yes," I lied as convincingly as I could.

"Then look at me." She demanded in a hard voice. "Look me in the eye and tell me you're alright." So I did. I looked her straight in the eyes, which were now falling with tears, and winced slightly. Talia rarely ever cried, and when she did it meant that she was eternally pissed off or impossibly sad. I feared that I made her both.

"I'm fine. Completely fine. Don't worry about me, please." I said and then turned back around and finished getting dressed, not caring whether she was watching me anymore or not. "I'm not worth the worry." I whispered so that she couldn't hear. Once I was done putting my uniform and robe on, I walked back into the bathroom and put my long hair in a bun and slid a red and black headband over my bangs. I grabbed my wand and walked to the door, Talia following after me, prepared to catch me if I decided to fall and pass out again. "Just promise me you won't tell Fred." I turned back to her. "Please," She looked at me for a while and then sighed and nodded.

"Fine. But if it happens again I'm telling him." She gave me a hard look. I nodded to the agreement, hoping that it wouldn't happen again around her. I walked out the door and down the stairs, out the common room, and towards the entrance hall to meet with the other Champions to leave for our interviews.

**-X-**

It was with my luck that our interviewer would be Rita Skeeter, that snarky, bitchy, horrible, woman. She walked into the room like she owned the place and as she started talking I tuned her winy voice out. She took Harry back first, into the broom closet no less, and kept him in there for a good twenty minutes. I sat down in the corner of the room and picked at my nails. I'd be lying if I said that the nightmare I had in the shower this morning didn't scare me. But now was not the time to be scared anymore. It was too close to the first task, and I swore that I'd bury my fears. The nightmares were just the start to burying them.

"How did you do it?" I looked up and saw Cedric sliding down the wall next to me. He didn't look at me—or, rather—he wouldn't look at me.

"I don't know; when you figure it out, let me know." I muttered harshly. I stopped picking at my nails and crossed my arms over my chest, glaring at the wall.

"Sorry," He said softly.

"You're pissed. I get it. Two Gryffindor's suddenly in the tournament who were never supposed to be there in the first place. And one of them is Harry-freaking-Potter. Woohoo." Maybe I was being a little too harsh—a lot too harsh—but that's what he was thinking and I was vocalizing it for him.

"I never said that." He said defensively.

"You didn't have to. Harry and I both know that you, Fleur, and Viktor are pissed that we've stolen your limelight." I turned to him, my face and voice softer this time, and continued, "But honestly, Cedric, we didn't do it. Harry would never do a thing like that. He just wants to be normal. And me, I wouldn't want to be in this tournament even if I was of age."

His eyes softened and he asked, "So then what are you going to do?"

I shrugged. "We have no choice but to compete. Just please don't be angry with Harry. He thought you two were friends. Be angry with me all you like, though." I smiled.

He smiled back and patted my knee as Harry stormed out of the broom closet, Skeeter at his heels. She pointed at me and motioned with a long fingernail for me to get up. I sucked in a deep breath and rose to my feet. "Good luck, then." Cedric said, motioning with his eyes over to the woman.

"Yeah," I nodded with a slight roll of my eyes. "I'll need it." I walked over to the woman, passing Harry along the way.

"Do me a favor and kill her." He muttered softly. I held my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh as I walked into the broom closet. She slammed the door behind me and I took a seat on an upside down bucket.

"A broom closet. So quaint." I muttered, turning my nose up at the stuffy smell. Skeeter sat down in front of me, smoothing out her pea green skirt. Beside her a green feathered quill was floating with a notebook under it, ready to write down everything I was about to say to every question she asked.

"Yes, well, we work with what we've got." She said matter-of-factly, pushing up her glasses.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you do."

"So, Davilla Olsen,"

"Davie," I corrected.

"I hear your nickname is the Cowardly Lion—"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "How did you know about that?"

She smirked, knowing that she hit a soft spot, and the quill started to scribble down something on the notepad. "I have my inside sources."

"I'm sure you do."

"How did you ever get that nickname?" She pressed on, leaning closer to me. I leaned back, not wanting to get any closer to her than I absolutely had to.

"Students are cruel." I said simply with a light shrug.

"I heard you hexed a classmate a few days ago. What brought you to do that?"

My eyes grew wide slightly and she smirked at my reaction. "I—where do you hear all this from?"

She waved her hand in my face. "I'm a writer dear, I know everything. So what did he do?"

"He—he was just…" I didn't want to tell her too much. In fact, I didn't want to tell her anything at all. "He pushed me too far." And that's all I was going to say on that subject.

"So you're quick with a wand and good with just about any spell or charm or hex or jinx. Why are you so nervous about the tournament?"

"Because I don't know what I'll be up against."

"All the more fun." She smiled wickedly at me and I shrugged, adverting my eyes from her. The quill scribbled down some more things.

"Whatever floats your boat." I mumbled.

"So how ever did you get your name in the Goblet of Fire?"

I looked at her sharply and said, "I didn't."

"Uh-huh." She rolled her eyes. "I hear that fire turned black."

"I'm sure you hear a lot of things." I was definitely not going to boost her ego on telling her the truth of _that_.

"How did you hex the goblet?"

"I didn't do anything!" I hissed defensively.

"Touchy, touchy." She clicked her tongue. She looked to the quill. It wrote down more things. "How do you plan on winning the task coming up?"

"By not dying." I stated simply. Was this over yet? I wanted it to be over. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to be back at Hogwarts and be with my friends.

"Any tricks up your sleeve?"

"Just magic. I'm best at magic."

"And how do you parents feel about this?" She could tell she hit a nerve because my jaw tightened and my body tensed. I looked her dead in the eyes, and said in the coldest voice that I could muster:

"I wouldn't know; they're dead." I said through clenched teeth.

"Oh yes, that's right." She waved her hand in my face again like it was no big deal. "You live with the Weasley's. How's that for you?"

"Fine." I said in a dead tone.

"I guess so, seeing as they practically raised you. Tell me, does the Cowardly Lion have any special talents?"

I jumped up from the bucket at that, hitting my head on the ceiling. I shoved past her, ignoring the pain in my head (from hitting it this time) and opened the closet door. "We're done here." I stated and then walked out.

"Wha—" I slammed the door shut, silencing her annoying voice. Harry and the others stared at me with wide eyes as I walked past them and out the doors into a small waiting room, where I remained until the end of the interviews. The tournament hadn't even _officially_ started and already I wanted it to be over.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Almost time to fight the dragons! I don't know when I'll be updating next; I'm going out of town tomorrow until next Saturday. I'll try to post as much as I can, but I make no promises!**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	9. For the Love of Dragons

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Eight: For the Love of Dragons**_

_**There was no sound around me. No people screaming. No people cheering. Nothing except the beat of my heart.**_

_**Thud-thud-thud-thud**_

_**I was standing in some type of arena. People were in the stands watching me, but I couldn't see their faces. It's like they were wearing clean slate masks. My hands were sweating and shaking, much like the rest of my body. When I looked down at my palms, I saw that they were caked with dirt and shallow cuts. My pants were torn, bloody, muddy, and bruised in several places.**_

_**People started screaming then.**_

_**I looked up and something sharp and jagged launched its self in the middle of my torso. I gasped and the audience fell silent again, sucking in their breaths. I trembled, blood trickling from my mouth. The spear, axe, machete, whatever it was, yanked out of me and I fell to my knees, holding the gaping hole in my stomach. I struggled to breathe, but I couldn't bring in any air to my lungs.**_

_**I fell face down on the hard ground and died.**_

My eyes shot open and I rolled sideways off the couch. Landing on my back I gasped and tried to clear the tears from my eyes. Three times. Three times now I've died in my nightmares. If that didn't tell me something I didn't know how much clearer it needed to be. But, I knew one thing: I was _not_ going to die. I didn't care what my nightmares were telling me; I was too stubborn to die in reality. Well, I was getting there, anyway.

"Davie…" Fred muttered tiredly, looking down at me with slanted eyes. We had fallen asleep in the common room again, (for three weeks straight), only this time we slept on the couch. Ludo was sleeping on the small chair in front of us. She had been watching us intently before she fell asleep, like she was our "adult supervision" or something. I found it creepy. Fred found it hilarious. "What are you doing down there?" He brought his hands down and lightly brushed the hair from my eyes with his fingertips. I grabbed his hand and pulled him down on top of me, wrapping my arms around his back and hugging him tightly. He was quiet and hugged me back around my neck, nuzzling his head in the crook of my neck and inhaling my vanilla and lavender scent. I felt tears start to fall down my face and I cursed myself silently. Fred must have noticed because he looked up at me and brought his thumb under my eyes, wiping the tears away. "Darling, you're crying." I laughed at his obvious statement. "What happened?"

I shrugged lightly and whispered, "Oh… It was just a nightmare."

"About what?" He questioned.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter." I looked away from him, not being able to look into his shining blue eyes anymore.

"Seems to matter if you were crying…" He trailed off, sitting up on top of me and staring at me intently. He sighed and opened his mouth, "Was it about the tournament?"

I smiled a little and said, "Something like that."

"You're still worrying about it?"

"Did you honestly think I would get over it?"

He shrugged. "I thought you calmed down a little about it."

"Only just a little. I mean… I'll be okay. I'd like to think I'll be okay."

"What can I do to make you feel better?" He asked, leaning back down over me and smiling. He kissed my neck and my breath caught in my throat in a silent gasp. His soft kisses moved over my jaw and then the corners of my mouth gently, lovingly. As much as I enjoyed it, loved it, wanted it, I pressed my hands against his chest and pulled him back from me. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

I stared at him for a minute and then said, "Come with me to make another Dreamless Sleep Potion."

His confusion grew. "I thought you made seven vials of it."

"I'm out." I said simply.

"Already?"

"Are you going to argue with me about it or are you going to come with me?" I lightly pushed him off of me and he fell back on his elbows, staring at me through his long hair. I stood up and grabbed my wand, sticking it in the back of my sweat pants. Ludo awoke and hooed, flying off the chair and settling down on my shoulder, nuzzling her soft head in my neck. I stared down at Fred and pursed my bottom lip. He grumbled a sigh, grabbed his wand from the end of the coffee table, and grabbed my hand, leading me to the door of the common room. I smiled to myself. I wasn't surprised that Fred could put up with me in the moment; he was always patient with me.

We stayed quiet on our walk down the corridors. I casted a silencing spell so that when we walked we wouldn't make a sound. Fred's _Lumos _faintly lit our way down the twist and curves of Hogwarts. I grabbed his arm and yanked him back at the sound of two people talking. We stood flat against the wall and listened carefully as the two people argued back and forth.

"Dragons?" That was Professor McGonagall. She sounded extremely disheveled and tired. "Don't you think that's a little too much?"

_Dragons?_ What the hell was that old woman talking about? Fred looked down at me and I gulped. We were both thinking the same thing, I realized after a second.

"They knew what they were getting themselves into, Minerva." That was Professor Dumbledore. He sounded the same; wise, unmoving, all business.

"Not Potter or Olsen!" McGonagall shrieked.

"We cannot bend the rules for that mistake." The old man breathed.

"Albus—"

"They must compete like the other Champions. This is the end of the discussion." He meant for that to shut her up, I could tell. No matter how much they cared and respected each other, I knew that they had their limits when they were tolerating each other, especially when they were in an argument. I'd never heard them argue before. It was quite scary, actually, to see the two professor's I love most argue about something this serious.

"But they're just children. Not a piece of meat!" The woman said sternly.

"They're not just children. Minerva, they're stronger than people give them credit for." The wise, old wizard said. I could feel them staring at each other and without even seeing it, it made me feel uncomfortable. "They will be fine." He added just to calm her down some more.

"I hope you're right Albus, I hope you're right." She said and then walked away down the corridor towards her office no doubt. Fred and I continued to be silent, holding our breaths until the old man left.

"I know you're there." He said in an amused voice. I tensed and Fred gave my hand a quick pulse before he dragged me out from behind the wall. We stood a few feet away from the long, grey bearded man, who had a slight smile on his face. "Weasley, Olsen, what are you doing up at this hour?" He asked, raising his long eyebrows.

"I, uh, we were just, um," Fred didn't know what to say.

I cleared my throat and said, well, the truth, "We were going to the potions room because I need a Dreamless Sleep Potion." I spoke in a strong voice and held my head up. Ludo nibbled on my ear and then flew over to the man, landing on his finger. He pulled something out of his robe pocket and held it up to her so that she could nibble on it. Fred stayed quiet beside me, still gripping my hand.

"I assume you heard that conversation just a few moments ago." Dumbledore spoke knowingly.

I nodded, but didn't think he could see it through the darkness, so I said, "Yes, sir, we heard it."

"And it's true." He let Ludo fly away from him. She didn't come back to me; she flew out the window and into the night, probably to catch a small rodent or something. Fred and I stared steadily at him, waiting for him to go on because we didn't know what to say at the moment. "Your first task is to do with a dragon." He turned his back to us, took one step, and then turned his head back to me, "Do what you will with the information you've just gotten." And then he walked away, leaving Fred and I alone once more.

The tall ginger opened his mouth to say something, but I jerked him in the direction of the potions room and hoped that he would just keep his mouth shut. I was still trying to take all the information in.

_Dragons._

_Bloody dragons._

How the hell was I supposed to fight a dragon? They were gigantic, monstrous, evil beasts. They could—and would—rip me apart before I even had the chance to defend myself.

We made it to the potions room without an encounter with another teacher or a wandering student or ghost. Fred shut the door behind us and I walked over to the potions cabinet, grabbing all the things that I would need. I was deliberately ignoring Fred, because I knew that he wanted to talk about it, and I certainly did not. Not until I came up with a plan—but I was seriously considering that I would just be winging it at this point. The competition was in four days, anyway. So…

"Davie…" Fred trailed off in a hushed voice. He touched my shoulder and I jumped away, not meaning to, but he removed his hand and stood beside me. Waiting for me to say something.

I was quiet for a few minutes and then said, softly, without looking at him, "Get the things for the potion." And he did. Without another word, he got a cauldron and we set to work on making the potion. We didn't speak another word for the rest of the night, but there was nothing to be said; the truth was, no matter how much faith Fred had in me about this tournament, he didn't know anymore if I could make it. McGonagall didn't know if I could make it. I wanted to believe that I could make it, but now, there was no telling.

Fear gripped me from the inside, but I kept my face a mask. I told myself that morning three weeks ago that I would drop the cowardice and replace it with courage, and that was exactly what I was going to do. No more complaining. No more feeling sorry for myself. I was going to fight and I if I just so happened to die in the first task, then I was going to die fighting. Dragons or not, I promised myself that I wasn't going to go down easily.

I tried to stick by that.

**-X-**

I raced to find Harry the next morning. He was outside in the courtyard, engaged in a conversation with Cedric. I noticed that the people walking around me were wearing "POTTER STINKS" pins and I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I was going to see any "OLSEN SUCKS" pins around the school. I probably would.

I saw Talia and the others motion for me to come over to them from across the courtyard and I held my hand out to them, saying that I would be over there in a few minutes. Talia and Mason made a face at me but they nodded in understanding.

Ten minutes later, Harry and Cedric had finished their conversation. I called the young boy over and waved wildly at him like a mad person. He smiled at me and jogged over. "What is it?" He asked, pushing up his glasses.

I leaned in closer to him, putting my hand in front of my mouth, shielding his ear. "I know what the first task is."

His eyes grew wide and he looked up at me. "How do you know?"

I motioned for him to put his head back down. "Long story short, I overheard a conversation between Dumbledore and McGonagall last night. We'll be having to do something with dragons. I just wanted to tell you."

"Thank you." He smiled gratefully at me and I nodded, ruffling his hair. He scowled lightly at me but then smiled again.

"You should probably tell Cedric." I looked up and saw the attractive Hufflepuff eyeing us from across the way, talking with Cho and some other people.

"Why don't you tell him?" He questioned with raised brows.

I shrugged lightly. "He likes you more than me. Just do it, okay? I'll tell Fleur and Viktor."

"You're sure you want to tell them?"

I shrugged again. "Sure, why not. Anyway, I gotta go. Just tell Cedric. It's not fair for only us to know and be prepared."

"Yeah, right, thanks Davie. I really owe you one."

"I'll keep that in mind for the second task." _If I live that long._ He smiled and patted my shoulder and then ran off to where Cedric was again. The other people walked away and the two boys talked with their heads down. Cedric looked up at me and I turned away and made my way over to where my friends were. I greeted them and locked hands with Fred. We walked to DADA together with Talia and George and parted ways with Mason and Ginny. I hoped that Moody wasn't in one of his crazy _let's-kill-another-animal-today_ moods.

I slipped away during lunch, saying that I had to speak to McGonagall, and found Fleur sitting with her little sister in the courtyard eating a dainty salad. As I approached she scowled, said something to her sister, and the little one left. I stood in front of the older woman and she stood up, fixing her skirt and stared at me. It wasn't a mean stare. It wasn't a nasty stare. But it wasn't all "Hi, how are you?" either.

"Yes?" Her French accent was think and beautiful.

"I have something to tell you." I said, squaring my shoulders.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Vat iz eet?"

I leaned in closer to her. She pulled away from a second but then leaned in herself. "The first task has to do with dragons." She looked up at me skeptically, like this was some sort of trick. I smiled a little at her and motioned for her to lean back down. "I overheard Dumbledore talking about it last night. I swear to you."

She looked back at me with shining grey eyes. "Vy are yoo telling me diz?"

I shrugged lightly and smiled. "It's not fair for only me to know. You should be prepared, especially going up against a dragon." She looked at me for a long while and then said, cheerfully:

"Sank yoo." She gave my arm a little squeeze and then walked away to go find her sister. I mentally did a little dance. Maybe karma would be nice to me and I wouldn't die.

After an endless search, and talking to some breathtakingly beautiful Durmstrang men, (hey, I can still look), I found Viktor in the library with Hermione, which, needless to say, was a huge shocker. They were huddled closer together, whispering over a thick book. I coughed, getting their attention. Hermione shot up and scooted away from the man slightly. Viktor just stood up and cocked his head to the side. I waved for him to come over. He did. Hermione watched us from behind the library table.

"The first task had to do with dragons." I whispered, looking around to make sure no one heard us.

"Dragons?" His voice boomed. I hushed him and put my hand over his mouth. He grunted in displeasure but didn't move it out of the way.

"Yes, dragons. I overheard Dumbledore talking about it last night. You don't have to believe me, but I just wanted you to be prepared because, well, I'm a nice person like that. Take it or leave it." He waited a few seconds and then nodded without hesitation. I removed my hand from his mouth and waved to Hermione, giving her a smile. She waved back, uncomfortably tucking some hair behind her ears. I pointed at her and then at Viktor. She blushed madly and nodded her head slightly. I winked and gave her a thumbs up and then skipped back off to the Great Hall just in time to finish lunch with my friends.

We exited the front of the school together and saw Harry running up to Ron and Seamus. "Oh, this should be good." George said and pulled us over to them.

"You're a right foul git, you know that." Harry said, getting in Ron's face.

"They're still fighting?" I whispered to Fred.

"Ron hates him." He whispered back. I rolled my eyes at their immaturity.

"You think so?" The redhead asked, moving closer to Harry.

"I know so."

"Anything else?" Ron asked, looking like he already knew what Harry was telling him was true but didn't care either way.

"Yeah—stay away from me."

_Oh Harry…_ I thought with a little smile.

"Fine," Ron said, pushing past his used to be best friend, Seamus in tow. Some people started laughing at the boy. I walked up to him and offered him a smile. He smiled back, sadly. I put my arm around his shoulders and walked him back to my friends, where they all gave him sad smiles. He and Ron, honestly, were fighting like girls. They would be back to being friends in no time. Harry knew that. Ron knew that. They just needed some time.

"Why so tense, Potter?" We all sighed in hearing a familiar, annoying voice shout. We turned around and saw Draco up in the school yard tree, sneering down at us all. "My father and I have a bet, you see,"

"Oh, not this shit again." I grumbled and pulled my wand out of my pocket. "You want antlers again, Malfoy?" I asked dully. He jumped down from the tree and extended his wand out to me. People stopped walking towards their next class and watched. I was sure they'd been waiting for us to have a "re-match" again. I really wasn't up for "dueling" with the arrogant Slytherin, but then again, I wasn't up for him insulting my friend either.

"I don't give a damn about your father, Malfoy." Harry shot at the fair haired teen. I raised my eyes at the green eyed boy and let out a whistle, lowering my wand. _Go Harry. _He walked up to him and pushed him back. "He's vile and cruel and you're pathetic." He hissed and then turned to walk away.

"Pathetic?" Draco raised his wand at Harry's back, and before I could shout for him to look out, a yellow stream of light shot out from behind one of the pillars and Malfoy was no longer a stupid teenage boy; he was a ferret.

"That will teach you to raise your wand at someone who has their back turned!" Professor Moody grumbled and he walked closer to the boy-turned-animal and started controlling him with his wand. I burst out laughing with the rest of the students. But our fun was cut short when a shrill woman's voice rang through our ears. Running up to the scene was McGonagall, looking furious.

"Professor Mood…w-what are you doing?" She asked, watching as the ferret moved up and down in the air.

"Teaching," He replied simply, not looking at her.

"Is that a—is that a student?" She asked in appalled shock.

"Technically, it's a ferret." He replied. Okay, I didn't care if I disliked the man or not, in that moment, he was awesome. He opened Crabbe's pants and shoved the ferret down them. More laughter ensued. Goyle reached down to grab his friend, but yanked his hand out of the large boys pants in getting bitten. The white ferret scrambled out of Crabbe's pant leg and McGonagall turned him back into the human. We all sighed in disappointment. She had ruined the fun.

Draco looked around in embarrassment and said, to Moody, "My father will hear about this." I rolled my eyes. When does his father _not _hear about the things that "upset" Draco?

"Is that a threat, boy?" Moody started limping over to the disheveled boy, who in turn ran away with his minions.

"Alastor," McGonagall raised her wand to the man and he stopped dead in his tracks. "We never use Transfiguration as a form of punishment." She said gravely. "Surely Dumbledore told you that."

The man looked down and mumbled, "Might have mentioned it."

"And you will do well to remember it." She turned away from him and dismissed the crowd of kids as she walked away like she was a woman who had completed her mission. Fred grabbed my hand and we went back inside with our friends, all of us in good moods now after the show. Harry ran off somewhere, saying something about having a talk with Moody, and we went on to our next classes.

The first task was in three days.

I wasn't prepared.

I wanted to not be scared.

* * *

**A/N: Fleur's accent was hard to do...hah. Hope I didn't fail! :) So the next chapter is one of the big ones! It's going to be so much fun to write! I'm excited. I hope you are too~**

**I'm leaving tomorrow so I don't know if I'll be posting in a few days. Fret not, though, I'll try my best. Promise! **

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	10. Dance with Death

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Nine: Dance with Death **_

The day before the task I was fitted for a uniform: It was a red and gold and black ters across the back. I was wearing kneeuring the task. It was a red and gold shirt and pant combo with my last name ishirt and pant combo with my last name in bold, gold letters across the back. I wouldn't be wearing anything for protection like a helmet or knee pads or elbow pads or something like that, but then again, I really shouldn't have expected to get off that easy. I was given black combat boots and black fingerless gloves. I was advised to pull my hair up tight so that "nothing would happen to it", more like so that it "wouldn't be singed off". I was told that the task would take place at noon, and I was to get a goodnight's sleep and eat a full breakfast beforehand.

All the teachers seemed a little too excited for our impending doom. Well, all except for McGonagall, who kept a watchful, wary eye on me the same way Moody did on Harry.

11:45. Almost noon. The day of the first task. The day I would try to fight a dragon and win.

I was in my room, all dressed and in my uniform and pinning my thick, tight braid back in a bun on the crown of my head. The door to the room opened and I jumped. From the vanity mirror I was sitting at, I saw Talia standing in the threshold of the door, her arms lightly crossed over her chest. When she looked at me she had hope in her eyes, and I couldn't help but to smile.

"Are you ready?" She asked, not stepping into the room.

I stood up, put my wand in my back pocket, held my arms out, and asked, "How do I look?"

She smiled faintly and mumbled, "Like a winner."

I smiled sadly at her and walked to stand in front of her, placing my hand on her shoulder. "Let's just hope I don't die first. We'll think about me winning later." I tried to add humor to my voice, but it came out dry and wiry. Instead of saying anything, Talia threw her arms around me in a tight hug and didn't let go. The hug spoke for itself: I love you. I love you. I love you. You better not die on me.

She pulled away and I could see the strain in her face from her trying to not let any tears fall. She grabbed my hand and led me from Gryffindor Tower and to the large arena where my fate was already decided. I wasn't particularly eager to find out what it was, either.

**-X-**

I was fidgeting in a chair in the corner of the tent, watching Harry talking with Hermione, Viktor glaring outside, Fleur fixing her hair back in a ponytail, and Cedric staring at his wand. The professors and Crouch were talking at the far corner of the tent, heatedly, it seemed. My eyes shifted everywhere as the anxiety and panic started to rise in my chest. A few days ago I wasn't worried about this task. A few days ago, I felt prepared without being prepared. A few days ago, I at least had _some_ type of confidence inside of me that I would be able to make it. But now. _Now_? Now, I thought I was on the verge of puking.

I mean, _dragons_.

Freaking dragons. They could have picked anything else for us to go up against (a bloody Kelpie maybe), but they had to the pick the biggest, nastiest beast in the Wizarding World to pit us against. And kill us.

I took in a shaky breath and then felt someone staring at me from behind. I turned my head slowly and saw Fred peeking at me from the back opening of the tent. I furrowed my eyebrows at him and shook my head as he motioned for me to come over. I shook my head again and he kept at it. Finally, I got fed up, and with a growl I shot up and walked over to where his ginger head was poked through. I looked around to make sure no one was watching and stepped in front of him, though it did little good because he was monstrously tall and I couldn't hide him.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed.

"Calming you down." He put his hands on my shoulders and rubbed them up and down. He smiled reassuringly at me and I half smiled back, trying my hardest to appear steady and ready to face my fate. Fred pulled me into him in a tight hug and said, "I had a feeling you would be freaking out."

I pulled away and looked up at him, rubbing my temple. "Fred, I can't do this. I'm going to die. Dragons!" I shrieked, then turned around to make sure no one heard me. They hadn't. I turned back around to my boyfriend and said, "I'm terrified of dragons."

He rolled his eyes and muttered, "You're terrified of everything."

My mouth opened slightly and I pushed him away, hitting him in the center of the chest, hard, but he didn't seem fazed my it. "That's not funny."

"I'm sorry." He reached to pull me back but I kept him at arm length, glaring daggers at him.

"I'm working on it, you know that." I said through a tight jaw.

He rubbed the back of his head and scowled. "I said I'm sorry… I didn't mean to say that."

"I'm sure you didn't." I rolled my eyes and scuffed at the ground with my foot. Now I was even more uncomfortable about the whole situation, and if my confidence had been going back up (which it hadn't), it was completely gone now. Not even _Fred_ had confidence in me. But I had assumed as much already. Could I really hold it against him?

A heart shattering silence overcame the both of us and I couldn't bear to look at the ginger at all. He was looking at me though, I could tell from the heat of his gaze. I cleared my throat and said, truthfully, "I'm going to die." He grabbed for me again and this time, I let him hold me tightly. So tight I almost couldn't breathe. I slowly wrapped my arms around his back and buried my head in his hard chest. All those years playing Quidditch paid off for him. He ran his fingers through my hair and sighed heavily.

"You're going to be okay." He kissed the top of my head and I stifled a laugh.

"But you don't know that." My voice cracked.

He pulled me away from him and looked down into my eyes. "You're a brilliant witch. You're one of the bravest people I know, Davie, why can't you see that?"

"I am not." I tried, but failed, at hiding the little smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

He smiled back down at me and kissed my forehead. "You're brilliant with a wand and you're almost better than Hermione with spells."

"Almost. Key word: _Almost_."

"You listen to me: nothing is going to happen to you. You understand? You're going to do exceptionally well." He actually said it like he believed it and meant it. He almost made me believe it, too.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You bet me, didn't you?"

His face fell and his cheeks reddened. He smiled sheepishly. I groaned, rolled my eyes, and pushed him away again. "No," He said quickly and pulled me closer again. "I didn't; others did. George and Mason did. But I swear I didn't. I wouldn't." He said urgently.

"Alright, fine, I believe you." I smiled up at him and kissed his nose.

"And I believe _in_ you." He kissed my lips. "And I'm sorry." Kiss. "I shouldn't have said what I did earlier." Kiss. "I didn't mean it at all." He kissed me with every word and I smiled.

"I know, I know." Behind us I heard Crouch saying something to the other Champions and then Dumbledore tapped me on the shoulder, motioning for Fred to leave. I gave the boy one more kiss and then pushed him out of the tent and walked with the wise wizard to the center of the room where everyone else was waiting in a circle. I stood between Cedric and Harry while Crouch stood in the middle with a brown sack. I raised my eyebrows at it and looked to Harry, who just shrugged at me.

"You will reach into the bag and take out one thing." Crouch said, and then thrusted the bag in front of Viktor. The large man shrugged and then reached into the bag. A small thing of fire shot out and Viktor tried to keep a strong face. Finally, he pulled out a miniature dragon. "Ah, the Chinese Fireball. Very good." Crouch said and then motioned for Fleur to reach in. She did, and then hissed and withdrew her hand quickly. Scowling, she reached back in and fished around before she pulled out her dragon. It was green, and I must admit, actually kind of cute. I was sure when it was full size, though, it wasn't cute at all. "Common Welsh Green," The old man said, admiring it. I rolled my eyes and Harry hid a laugh in his hand beside me. Cedric bravely pulled out a Swedish Short Snout, and then it was my turn. I took a deep breath and reached in. I didn't hesitate, either; I wrapped my fingers around the first thing I felt, and then yanked my hand out, and standing in the palm of my hand was a dark blue beast that had jagged pieces of bone sticking out on its back, down its legs and tail. And on its tail were spiked bones, four of them. It turned in my hand and stared at me with yellow slitted eyes. Then it breathed orange fire in my face and jumped on my head. I sucked in a breath and Crouch quickly grabbed the thing and held it in his hand, wincing from the sharp bones covering it. "The Russian Bonetooth," Whatever else he said after that, I didn't hear, because I was already trying to figure out which color I wanted my casket to be at my funeral.

Harry grabbed the last dragon, the Hungarian Horntail. Apparently it was the second most deadly and aggressive one here. Mine was the first.

I was the fourth to go; Viktor was first, then Fleur, then Cedric, then me, then Harry. Oldest to youngest.

Our objective was to retrieve a golden egg from the dragon. The golden egg was the clue to our next task.

Draco's father was right; I wasn't going to last five seconds.

Viktor's name was announced and then off he sauntered out of the tent and into the battle field. He took ten minutes. I could hear the dragon screaming in agony. The crowd was crying out. Dumbledore was shouting something. Then the dragon was silent and the crowd cheered. He couldn't have killed the dragon, because that was against the rules and he would have been arrested, but he certainly didn't go easy on it, either. Viktor never came back in the tent.

Fleur went out next. She took twice as long as Viktor but I never heard the dragon cry. I could smell burning clothes, though. She never came back in the tent, either.

And then it was Cedric in all his Hufflepuff glory. He smiled at Harry and me and then walked out of the tent with a straight back and broad shoulders. The crowd went crazy for him, as I suspected that they would to begin with.

Now it was only the Gryffindor's to go. Harry stood on one end of the room and I sat on the other, in the same wooden chair as before. I listened outside to the challenge and swore that I could feel the heat radiating from the dragon's mouth. I shivered.

"And now, the Champion who will be against the Russian Bonetooth," Dumbledore's voice boomed through the arena and I jumped up in my chair. My eyes were wide from the fear seeping through my veins. Fifteen minutes. It had only taken Cedric fifteen minutes to complete the task. And here I thought—hoped—that it would take at least thirty. Or he could have been generous and taken an hour. You know, that would have been nice, too.

_No, no, no. Not now. Not _right_ now. No…it shouldn't be time…_not yet_. _I thought, wiping my palms on my pants. I looked up at Harry and he nodded at me, trying to tell me that it's okay. I nodded back and gulped as Dumbledore announced my name and the crowd grew wild, either excited to see if I could actually do it, or excited to watch me die. Either way, it was sadistic and cruel and I was utterly scared.

I watched with wide eyes as my Headmaster waved frantically for me to come out of the tent. I shook my head and stepped back in slightly. Then I felt a shove on my back and was suddenly standing in the arena beside Dumbledore. I looked back and saw Harry giving me an encouraging, cheeky smile and two thumbs up. I glared daggers at him. I could have killed him. And if I survived this task, and if he survived this task, I vowed that I _would_ kill him.

Not really.

But I would probably hex him or something.

The dragon roared and I jumped, looking around anxiously with wide eyes. Dumbledore was no longer in sight but Harry still stood in the front of the tent entrance, watching me. The dragon roared again. I almost peed myself. Harry whispered something to me between his cupped hands over his mouth, but I couldn't hear him. I wrinkled my face and shrugged. "You're wand." I heard him say this time.

"Oh…" I reached into my back pocket and withdrew my wand, though I doubted it would do me any good; you couldn't attack what you couldn't see. I looked around, finally taking in my surroundings; I was in the mountains. There was snow everywhere. A jagged cave sat to my right, and at the open mouth of the cave was a large nest, and sitting in that nest was my golden egg with the rest of the dragon's other eggs. In front of me was a clearing with a medium sized lake in the center of it. To my left were some other smaller mountains. I thought I saw something moving behind the tallest one.

_Brilliant._ I thought, jumping and grabbing my chest when the dragon let out her ferocious wail again. I heard some people giggle in the audience. I didn't bother looking at any of them; my friends were there, but I didn't want to see their pity filled looks.

Another roar.

I could hear the beast, but I couldn't see her. I scanned my eyes on the scenery again. If I wasn't about to face my death, I might have thought that it was pretty. Beautiful, even. Then something moved from behind the tallest mountain to my right again. I gulped. The Bonetooth slowly raised her head from behind the peek and glared her yellow daggers at me. Now in full size, I could see just how deadly and ugly she was; two sharp bones were protruding out of her head like horns. Two pointed teeth on the bottom and top were hanging out of her mouth like a walrus. Her ears were long and pointed back.

She climbed the mountain and perched herself on top of it, her insanely long and insanely sharp claws digging into the hard rock. All along her body, from her head, shoulders, front legs, back legs, back, and tail were covered in nothing but pointed bones, sticking out around her like armor. And her tail. _Oh_. That tail: the length of about twenty of me (and I'm 5'7), lined with sharp, rough scales and on the bottom stood those four spiked bones.

_Oh my Sweet Merlin, I am going to die._

The dragon was still glaring daggers at me. My mouth had gone dry and my palms were in a cold sweat, shaking violently. I tried to move my legs, but it was as if they were glued to the ground. I couldn't even blink, I was so scared.

Finally, though, I did move. I ducked to the ground when she opened her mouth and shot a deadly wave of her orange fire at me. I held my hands over my head to protect myself. My fingers burned from the slight touch. The fire died down, but I still didn't get up. I felt a huge pulse under me and whimpered.

"Move!" I heard a familiar voice shout. "Davilla Olsen, if you let this dragon kill you, _I will kill you_!" It was Mason. He sounded pissed. And serious.

"Okay…" I croaked, though I knew he couldn't hear me. I stood to my feet and tried to contain my fear. She was standing only a few feet away from me now, her body rigid and ready for the kill. I saw her muscles contracting and then she lifted her foot to step forward. On an impulse, I ran towards the lake in the middle of the clearing. I jumped in, and surprisingly it was deep. Why did I jump in the water? Well I had hoped that the wench didn't like water. Some dragons didn't, I knew that. I peeked my head out the top of the lake and saw that she was still standing by the mountains, glaring at me. _Thank you._ I thought, relieved; she didn't like water.

Now, down to business; I couldn't stay in this lake forever, and I certainly needed to come up with a plan. Quick. I craned through my brain, thinking of anything and everything that I could possibly use to my advantage. I clenched my hands. _Oh, shit_. I eyed my wand at the opening of the lake. I dropped it before I jumped in. I didn't know if that was smart of me or stupid. A wet wand would be bad, but then again, a wet wand would still work, barely, but it would still be functional with some strain. If I could slowly drift to the edge without startling her attention, which was no longer on me, thank Merlin, then I could create a diversion. But what kind of diversion?

Above me birds chirped happily as they flew by. The Bonetooth followed the sound of the birds to the high mountain and watched them. So she had a short attention span? Or she just liked birds? Or maybe it was both? But what could…

Oh my… I had it. But I needed my wand.

Slowly, I swam to the edge of the lake. I kept one eye in front of me and one eye on the massive creature still on the mountain. My fingers curled around my wand and I pointed it towards the dragon and whispered, "_Avis_," A flock of birds flew out of the tip of my wand and towards the dragon. She swiped at the air and I said the charm again, creating more birds. Three more times and the birds were swimming through the air around her. I smiled and climbed out of the water. Tension gripped at my stomach as I stood on the snow covered land. I looked up at the cave where my egg was silently waiting for me and placed my wand in my mouth. I steadied myself and began the long and muscle building climb. It wasn't exactly a long climb, but it wasn't exactly a free ride, either.

I finally reached the top and let out a happy sigh. I looked over my shoulder and saw that mummy dragon was still preoccupied with the birds and walked towards the nest.

That was a mistake.

In an instant, the moment I took the first step inside the mouth of the cave, a pissed off roar filled my ears and I spun around and saw great, big 'ole, pissed off, evil eyed, Russian Bonetooth glaring at me with such intensity, I thought that her glare alone would rip me in half. I gulped and took a step back.

Another mistake.

She breathed fire through her nose and stepped towards me. I gulped and raised my wand.

Last mistake.

It happened in a second. Less than a second. A millisecond. She screamed, fire exploded from her mouth, and then everything was silent. The silence buzzed around me like an annoying bug. The world was in slow motion and everything was foggy. I didn't know what had happened until blood spat from my mouth and everything around me went back in full motion. I grabbed at the thing jammed into my torso with a little yelp. That was the first time I noticed that the crowd had gone completely dead silent.

I stared up at her yellow eyes and she pulled her tail from me, watching closely to see what I would do next. I placed my hand over my stomach and struggled to the edge of the cave. Someone screamed. My vision started to go blurry. I wasn't paying attention and fell straight down the mountain. It was a relatively small drop, but with the gaping hole in the middle of my stomach, it was enough to add to my almost death. I lay on my stomach in the snow, my eyes growing heavy. I saw the teachers watching me with wide eyes, wondering if they should step in or wait.

My nightmare. Exactly like my nightmare. I had been too stupid to notice it before. But in my nightmare I didn't fall down a mountain. Thanks for leaving that out, subconscious.

I felt a thud land a few feet away from me. Ah, she was here to finish her work and eat me.

In my dream, I died.

But now, as I lay struggling to breathe in the ice cold snow, I realized that I wasn't ready to die. I had made it this far. Hell, I was bleeding everywhere! Might as well not give up until my heart stopped beating. So I did something stupid; I reached for my wand beside me like an old friend, curled my fingers around it, and used every ounce of rapidly draining energy and life I had in me to stand up. First, I got to my knees and everyone started screaming, chanting, and cheering in mixed emotions from above. Then, I shakily got to my feet, where Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall started to rush towards me. I held my free hand on my stomach, trying to stop the blood from escaping my body, and pointed my wand at them with my other hand. They hesitantly stopped, worry and fear etched on their faces.

"Fifteen more minutes." I managed to say, spitting blood in the snow.

"You'll be dead in ten!" McGonagall shrieked.

I smiled lazily and said, with a light shrug, "Five, then."

"Davilla—"

"You have to let me do this!" I managed to shout at the top of my lungs. I winced, spitting up more blood. Another pound behind me. Several more screams from the audience, scared. The dragon was getting closer. The three teachers were still hesitant so I added, "I'm not dead yet." I smiled widely, assuming from the looks on their faces that blood was caked all over my teeth.

Another pound. More people screaming, angry. There was no more time to argue with them. I turned to the dragon, raised my wand, and—and I don't know how—but a light blue light shot from the tip of it and a large shield stood between me and the beast. I swayed backwards and caught the rock beside me for support. Dizziness was seeping through my brain. But I had to act and I had to act now. I didn't know how I created that shield and I would question it later after I retrieved my god forsaken golden egg.

All of this over a stupid egg.

It better be a damn good clue.

The dragon started hitting herself against the blue shield and I could see that it was on the verge of breaking. No time to dilly dally. I put my wand between my teeth, again, and started climbing the cave, again. Only this time, I was slower because the immense amount of pain I was in was dragging me down. Finally, my hand touched the mouth of the cave and I hoisted myself up. I steadied myself and then took a step forward, only to fall to my knees with a groan. My wand fell out of my mouth and rolled in the darkness of the deep cave. I held my stomach. It was still bleeding, profusely. At this rate, it didn't matter if I got the egg or not, because I was surely going to die of blood loss.

But even that didn't matter to me now. I had come too far. That egg was _mine_.

I scooted on my knees over to the nest. The crowd screamed; went crazy. I grabbed the golden egg. The dragon wailed. I fell back on the concrete rock and closed my eyes.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I barely have time to write here except at night. And it's currently extremely late, so if there are spelling errors in this, please try to over look them, as I'm about to fall asleep while tying this AN. Hah. Well, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. It was a little hard to write, surprisingly. o.o But I hop you liked it none-the-less. I can't promise when the next chapter will be up, so don't count on it tomorrow-erm, later in the day seeing as I'm technically updating this "tomorrow". Anyway. Time for the Yule Ball and...other things I'm not saying. lol It's sure to be interesting, promise.**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	11. The Hard Way

**The Cowardly Lion**

**_Chapter Ten: The Hard Way_**

**_It wasn't a nightmare this time. It was a dream._**

**_I was in a large, ball like white room. Women around me were spinning and wearing long gowns. Men were wearing fancy suits. Music was playing in the background. People were laughing. Everyone was having a great time. It made me feel at ease. I was dancing, too, though I couldn't see with whom; his face was blurred out. Come to think of it, everyone's face was blurred out._**

**_Then everything started to change: the people melted away and I was all alone. I spun around, trying to find someone, anyone that I knew, but they were all gone. The lights in the room started to dim but the music was still playing. It was sweet and whimsical, and should have made me feel better, but I didn't know what was going to happen next. Was I going to drown again? Was I going to listen as a man and a woman die, leaving behind a helpless baby?_**

**_I closed my eyes and braced myself, but five minutes passed and nothing happened. When I opened my eyes again the ball room cracked like glass and fell away, creating a new scene: I was standing in what looked like clouds. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Everything was a bright, white shining light. More clouds started to roll in at my feet. A sharp breeze passed through me and I held my arms in hopes to contain some of my body heat._**

**_"Davie…"_**

**_That voice. I knew that voice. But it had been so long since I had heard it. So, so, so very long._**

**_"Davie…"_**

**_It had been years since I had heard it, and I thought that I would never hear it again._**

**_"Davie…"_**

**_Because my mother was dead._**

**_I shot my head up and saw her. A woman, only a little older than I was now; she was twenty-three when she was murdered. And Godric, she was absolutely beautiful. She was only standing a few feet away from me, and I longed to run to her. But I couldn't. I feared if I moved that she would vanish and I would truly never see her again. So I just stood where I was and took her in: she was absolutely beautiful, like an angel, I guess is what Muggles would say. Her long, silk dark brown hair rested at her waist in soft waves. Her light grey eyes stared straight at me, alive with glee. She was a little taller than me, and had a medium sized figure like me. She was pale though, unlike me. Her skin was soft and creamy. She was wearing a long white cotton gown and was barefoot._**

**_"My baby…" Her voice was like a musical whisper. She held her arms out to me but I dared not move. It was still too much._**

**_"Am I dead?" I asked the question that had been nagging at the back of my mind since I had laid eyes on her. She was dead, undoubtedly, and this wasn't a dream nor was it a nightmare. This was something else, I could feel it. I was somewhere else._**

**_She lowered her arms but stayed in place. A sad smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Yes, I'm afraid you are, dear."_**

**_A lump formed in the back of my throat and I choked down a sob. "How?" I managed to ask without strain. Miraculously._**

**_She continued to look at me in that sad, lazy gaze of hers. Her eyes were no longer sparkling with glee as they had been moments before. "That dragon really did you good." I could tell there was a hint of humor in her voice that she was trying to hide._**

**_I smiled slightly. "So that's it, then?"_**

**_She nodded and then stopped mid-nod and shook her head. I looked at her in confusion. "You have a choice, because technically it wasn't your time to go." I stayed quiet, my stomach doing little flips. She went on, "You can return back to your world or you can come with me."_**

**_"Where?"_**

**_"To a place where the nightmares will stop."_**

**_My eyes grew wide. "You…you know about the nightmares?"_**

**_She smiled sweetly at me. "I know about everything, my child. But yes, I had them, too." She frowned a little, obviously upset that she had passed that trait on to me. "It's a burden, I know."_**

**_"So does that mean I'm psychic or something?"_**

**_She laughed. "In a way, yes, you are. Sometimes what happens in the nightmares, like the little details, won't come true. But the big things,"_**

**_"Like me getting stabbed by the dragon's tail."_**

**_"Like you getting stabbed by the dragon's tail."_**

**_We said that at the same time and I felt a little blush creep up in my cheeks. She went on, "Yes, like you getting stabbed by the dragon. The big parts of the vision will come true, but some small things may be different."_**

**_"Will I ever see something good happening?" I asked hopefully._**

**_She shook her head and her mouth formed a bitter smile. "I'm afraid not. All the women on my side of the family have been cursed with the disadvantage of only seeing disasters and death and wars." I dropped my head and wrapped my arms around myself in a comforting hug._**

**_"And it always comes true…" I whispered._**

**_"It always comes true." She mirrored my tone of heartache. "You can't control what you see and you can't control the future. You can only wait and watch as it happens. You cannot change it. It will happen and you will know."_**

**_"But what about the past…?" I trailed off, looking back up at her. She furrowed her eyebrows at me. So I elaborated, "I've been…seeing things about the past. Well, I don't know, maybe they're not, but it feels like it's already happened."_**

**_"What is it?"_**

**_"A man and a woman dying," She sucked in a breath. "A baby crying in the night," She held her hand over her mouth. "And a raspy man's voice." She let out a little cry then and I looked at her, waiting for her to say something. Waiting for her to tell me what it was that I was seeing. But she didn't. "What is it?" I finally asked, unable to take her silence anymore._**

**_"Nothing," She answered quickly._**

**_"Nothing?" I said flatly. "You know, you're a terrible liar."_**

**_She narrowed her eyes at me. "It is nothing you should worry about. If it happened in the past then you need to not worry about it. You understand me?" I nodded, in fear of having to face her wrath. I opened my mouth to say something, but a shining light cut me off. It shone down from above, bathing the both of us in its shimmering light._**

**_"What is that?" I asked softly. It didn't feel threatening; it felt soothing and nice and welcoming and…familiar. It felt like home. My home. My _**real**_ home._**

**_"It's time for you to choose." My mother looked at me dead in the face, urgency all in her expression._**

**_"Choose what?" Panic started to rise in me._**

**_"Do you want to come with me, or do you want to return to the world of the living and be with your friends?" She smiled softly at me and my eyes grew wide. How was I supposed to make a decision like that? Both choices had pros and cons._**

**_Going with my mom: being with my family, not having to deal with the disgusting, horrible, psychic nightmares; dying, leaving behind my friends, leaving Fred, not being able to finish school, not having a future_**

**_Going back to live: being with my friends, being with Fred, finishing school, my future, possibly getting married; having psychic dreams about disasters and death, finishing the Triwizard Tournament, possibly dying again, never seeing my mom again_**

**_It seemed tempting to go with her, but I knew deep down that I just couldn't. I couldn't go with her. I couldn't be that selfish._**

**_"No," I said after a while. "No, no, I can't. I can't go with you. I have to go back. I have to finish living." I said confidently. She smiled at me like she was the proudest mother in the world. She clasped her hands together in front of her and continued to smile at me._**

**_"You've turned into such a brilliant young lady, you know that?" I could feel myself blushing. "Your father and I," I noticed her voice cracked when she said "father" but I didn't say anything. "Are so proud of you. You must know that." She hesitated and then went on, "And…for the future you have to be strong, you hear me?"_**

**_I raised an eyebrow at her. "You sound just like McGonagall." I laughed and expected her to crack a smile, but she didn't. She just continued to look at me seriously. I gulped. "Why?" I asked hoarsely. "Why do I have to be strong?"_**

**_She sighed deeply and said, with closed eyes, "The future is going to bring some hard times. You are going to find things out and see things that you would rather not know. You are going to have to make choices. Hard choices. But you will have to decide none-the-less."_**

**_I was taken aback. "What are you talking about? What's going to happen?"_**

**_She shook her head. "I can't tell you."_**

**_"Then what was the point of giving that speech?" I shrieked, throwing my arms out to the side._**

**_She smiled softly. "To warn you. To give you some insight."_**

**_"And you couldn't have been any more vague." I grumbled, rolling my eyes._**

**_"I just… Davilla, I love you. I love you so much. I want you to know that, okay?" She began walking closer to me and I clenched my fists to my sides. "And you will make the right choices, that is already certain because you are a good person. You understand me?" She was standing in front of me now. She put her hands on my shoulders and I looked up at her. Unblinking. My eyes dry. "I love you. Remember I love you." She whispered in my ear. "I tried to protect you. I did protect you. But I cannot protect you anymore. You will come to face things you cannot imagine to be possible. But they will happen and they are true." I could feel her trembling. "Do not let him get you." My eyes grew wide and my breath hitched in my throat. "You are stronger than him." My heart stopped. "No matter what anyone tells you, you are not like him." She looked me dead in the eyes. "You will never be like him. You are good. You are good."_**

**_My nightmare. The woman had said the same thing in my nightmare. That meant…that woman was my mother._**

**_Before I could say anything, call her out on it, demand that she tell me more, tell me the truth, she kissed me on the cheek and she was ripped from in front of me. I began spinning, trembling, falling into the white light. I gripped through the air for some type of tangible thing to stop the fall, but there was nothing. I kept falling through the air. It was a long fall. It felt like something like out of that story Talia read me second year. _**Alice in Wonderland**_ was the name of it. Something about a girl falling down a rabbit hole and falling and falling and falling. That's how it was for me. Just falling and falling and falling._**

Until I wasn't falling anymore; I stopped in mid-air, froze on my back with my limbs flung out. I gasped, realizing that I was in a familiar place; the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Madame Pompfrey, along with some other witches and wizards that I didn't know, were rushing around the room to get more vials of potions and their wands to perform more spells. In the corner of the room I saw Fred and my other friends, standing in a small circle together. Ginny was holding Hermione, who Ron was also holding. Talia, Fred, George, and Mason were all huddled together in a tight hug. All their heads were bowed. Their bodies were shaking.

"We still don't have a pulse!" One of the wizards shouted. Talia let out a large, shaky cry. I finally looked down at the table where my mangled body lay. I gasped. When I said mangled, I meant mangled. My hair was a bloody mess around me. My shirt was cut open and hanging off the table, revealing a medium sized hole in the middle of my stomach. It was still bleeding. I tore my eyes from my stomach and looked at my face. It was porcelain white. My lips were blue and my eyes were a bruised purple.

"We can't…she's gone." A witch said, removing her shaky, bloody hands from my body.

"No!" Talia shouted, removing herself from the friend circle and started towards the witches. George wrapped his arms around her body, holding her back from punching every single one of the Mediwitches and Wizards in the face. "You have to save her! You have to help her!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "It's your job to help her! It's your job to save her!"

"There's nothing we can do." Madame Pomfrey said in a soothing voice. "I'm sorry, but your friend is—" Dead. But oh, I wasn't dead. I felt a tug towards my body and suddenly I was rushing down and fell into my lifeless form.

Immediately, I opened my eyes and gasped frantically. Everyone grew quiet in the room and only a single word passed over my dry, swollen lips, "_Mum_."

**-X-**

My mother and father died in the First Wizarding War. I already told you that. I don't remember them much. I told you that too. I didn't know how they died, but now I do. Well, not exactly; I didn't see it and I still haven't seen it from my "visions", but I know they were murdered with me in the room. The only question that remains with me is: why wasn't I killed, too? Why did whoever kill them leave me alive? Why? Why? _Why_?

And who was he? Who was the man I'm supposedly stronger than? Who was it that I was nothing like? Who did my mother try to protect me from? _Who_?

What was going to happen? In the future, in the near future that my mother and McGonagall were talking about, what was going to happen? Why would I need to be strong? Why would I need to be making a lot of decisions? Why would I have to choose? Why would everything be so difficult? _Why_?

I had an abundance of questions and I feared that I would be getting my answers soon. But I didn't know if I quite wanted them.

**-X-**

I groaned softly, turning my aching head as the light seeped into my closed eyes. I turned over in the feather soft bed and slowly opened my crusty eyes. Harry was staring back at me, his eyes wide. I must admit he looked a little scared. "You look like you've seen a ghost." I croaked in a hoarse voice. My throat was so dry it felt like sand paper.

"Might as well have." He said, keeping a watchful eye on me.

"What are you in for?" I asked, shifting on the cot in a more comfortable position. Honestly, I as in so much pain, I doubted that I would ever get comfortable. It felt like there were a million butcher knives in my stomach, twisting and turning all at once. My head was pounding and I felt like I was moving in slow motion.

"Fell off my broom. Smashed into the arena wall." The younger boy answered, motioning down to his wrapped legs.

"They're not broken are they?"

"No, thankfully."

I rubbed my temple and pinched the bridge of my nose. "And you made it through to the second task? You got your egg?"

"Yes, but you—"

"I don't want to talk about me right now. In fact, I don't want to talk about me period." I said quickly, shutting him up. He sighed and nodded. "So how long have you been in here?"

"Three days." So that meant that I had been in here for three days, too, only unconscious.

"When are you leaving me?" I asked with a slight smile.

"Madame Pompfrey says that I can leave tomorrow, but you—"

"Harry," I hissed.

"Sorry," He said softly.

"Oh," I sighed and waved my hand at him slightly. "Just say it."

"You died." He was silent, waiting for my reaction. I turned away from him and stared at the ceiling, breathing steadily.

"I know," I whispered. "I saw my mum."

"You…what?" Harry asked in astonishment. He sat up in his cot and looked at me with wide eyes. I didn't look at him but nodded.

"Yeah, I had a nice little chat with my mum. I was dead. She told me I was dead. She asked me if I wanted to go back with her. But I couldn't. I couldn't go."

"Davie, that—"

"Sounds crazy, yeah, I know. But it's the truth." I assured with a slight shrug.

He was silent for a few seconds, probably thinking that I had completely lost my mind. I didn't care though. I knew what I saw and I knew what I was told. It was the truth. Finally, he said, "I believe you."

I turned my head to him, unblinking, and asked, a little dazed, "You do?"

He nodded briefly. "I do. I believe you. Stranger things have happened."

"Stranger things are going to happen." I caught myself almost telling him what my mother had told me and clamped my mouth shut, biting my tongue. I didn't know if I was allowed to say anything about it to anyone. Was that a rule or something?

"What do you mean?" The boy furrowed his eyebrows.

I shrugged lightly. "I just mean, things always get strange, don't they? I…found out I'm psychic. That's pretty strange."

"Psychic?" He didn't sound as skeptical as I felt at first.

I nodded and shrugged lightly. "Yep. Apparently it runs on my mother's side of the family. All the females inherit it. But we only see disasters and it always comes true. All of it. All the time. And there's nothing I can do to change it, either." We fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. I didn't know what to say, and I'm sure Harry was wondering if he should apologize or think it's cool.

"Davie, I—"

"Don't say anything." I sighed, turning to give him a sad smile. "Don't apologize. Don't feel sorry for me. Don't say sorry. There are people who have it worse than me." I didn't know if he thought I was talking about him or not, but he nodded and lay back on his bed, getting comfortable. "And don't tell anyone." I added. I wanted to be the one to tell my friends. They were going to freak out. Especially when they found out that I had a vision about me dying during the first task. But there was only one person I planned to tell about that one.

"I won't." And I knew he wouldn't, too. Harry wasn't that type of person. Even if he got mad at me and needed something to hold against me, he wouldn't tell anyone.

"Thank you." I said and then turned to the other side of the bed, pulling the blanket over my head. I wrapped myself up in a little cocoon and closed my eyes. I was still exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep. I just hoped that I wouldn't have another "vision".

* * *

**A/N: Whooooaaaa I actually had time to write another chapter today. Kind of filler, kind of not. The bit with her mum was important, though. You know...and the mystery just continues to grow, yeah? There won't be a chapter up tomorrow, sorry about that. ^-^**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**Edit: there was a typo with Madame Pomfrey's name. Updated it. So. It's fixed. :)**


	12. Stupidity Is My Middle Name

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Eleven: Stupidity Is My Middle Name**_

I woke up three days later, surrounded by my friends. They didn't start with the "Oh, how are you feeling?", they skipped all that nice stuff and went straight to the insults and screaming in aggravation at me and I just laid there and took it, because, hey, I guess I deserved it.

"You're an idiot!" Talia shouted in frustration, bawling her hands in a tight fist. I noticed that she had huge, dark blue and purple bags under her eyes and I wondered just how long she had gone without sleep. Guilt poured over me like a black rain cloud opening and crying on a helpless soul walking the streets of London.

"You're new-found inability to give up pisses me off!" Mason grumbled from the foot of my bed. He was glaring daggers at me. I looked to the ceiling, ignoring all of their equally evil looks.

"I can't believe you would do that!" Hermione shrieked in a high pitched voice that sounded like bells.

"Five more minutes my arse!" George tisked, his arms tightly crossed over his chest.

"All for a bloody egg!" Ginny hissed, wagging her finger in my face.

"Not even Harry is that determined!" Ron spat, running his hands through his hair.

"Thanks Ron," Harry glared over at the ginger but then nodded. "But he's right!" Ah, seems like my death and revival had brought them back together. Good. Now they'll stop fighting like an old married couple.

The only one who didn't say anything was Fred. He was in the back corner of the room, sitting on one of the cot's, his head was down and he wouldn't dare to look up at me. I felt tears brimming my eyes but pushed them away. Out of all of them, I knew that he was the most pissed. I knew that he was the one who took this the hardest. I knew that he was the one who was probably on the verge of dying (figuratively) when I wouldn't wake up.

They were all silent after that, sharing looks with one another and then giving me perplexed glares around the circle they had formed around my bed. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what reaction they wanted from me.

_Sorry_? Did they want me to tell them that I was sorry for winning? That I was sorry for being bold and taking a chance and proving that I could do it? Sorry for dying? Sorry for trying to prove everyone wrong?

No.

I was _definitely_ not sorry. I was _not_ sorry for not giving up. I was _not_ sorry for winning. But I _was_ sorry for putting them through hell. They didn't deserve that.

"Davilla, are you even listening to me?" Talia's voice rang around me in an angry snarl. I clicked my eyes over to her and raised an eyebrow.

"No, I wasn't." I muttered boredly. She raised her eyebrows at me in anger and opened her mouth to yell at me some more, but I said, "If all you're going to do is yell at me and scold me and make me feel like shit, then you can all leave." I gave each of them the same bold glare look. None of them wavered. I went on: "I don't want to hear it. I know what I did. I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry I didn't give up. I am sorry you all went through hell afterwards, though. But I'm not sorry I did something stupid that caused me to win." I felt a lump sliding into my throat and faut it back down. "So. That being said. Stop yelling at me. I'm alive, aren't I?" They were all silent and I saw the rage flicker out of Talia's eyes and get steadily filled with tears. I looked away again and breathed out a deep sigh. _Shit_. She was going to cry again. And I was the reason for her crying. Again.

"I—we were all just really scared. Okay?" Her voice cracked. "You—you were reckless and awesome and… I thought that I had lost my best friend." The long black haired girl sat down on the edge of the hospital cot beside me and reached for my hand. I had half a mind to pull away from her but didn't. I wasn't mad at her. I couldn't be mad at her. I mean, it wasn't rational to be mad at someone who was concerned about you—who cares about you. Who cares whether you live or die.

Her hand lightly wrapped around mine and I turned back to her. Her eyes weren't glossy anymore; she wasn't going to cry. I cleared my throat and said, "I'll be more careful next time, I promise. I won't do something that stupid again. But you have to stop worrying so much. I did it. Okay? I made it and I'm happy that I did. Now you don't have to worry—none of you do because now you know that I can actually do it. Okay?" They all looked at me, worry etched all over their faces. None of them nodded, but I hoped that they got the point; I was okay. I could do it. I finally realized that I could do it. And they finally saw that I could do it.

"If you're ever that stupid again," Ginny started, wiping the tears from her beautiful angry face.

"I will hex you." Hermione finished the threat and I barked a laugh. The look on her face said that she was more than willing to do it. I believed that she would, too, seeing as how insanely pissed she was. I continued to laugh and she reluctantly let a tight smile consume her face.

"I promise," I started, squeezing Talia's hand. "I promise that I will never do anything that stupid again." And I meant it, too. I really meant it. I didn't know what was going to happen in the next task, but I knew that I wouldn't put my life in danger like that again. For one, it really hurt. Two, I freaking died. And three, I almost lost everything and everyone that I loved. They went through hell when I didn't wake up, and I wouldn't put them through that again. I just couldn't do it.

Satisfied with the answer, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left the large recovery room, waving and smiling at me goodbye. Talia stayed on my bed beside me, holding my hand. George sat at the end of the bed. We started talking but I couldn't remember what the conversation was about because my attention was elsewhere: it was on Fred. He was still on the other side of the room, not bothering the look up at me. His shoulders were hunched forward, defeated. I felt my eyes start to water again.

"Hey, you two," I whispered to Talia and George. They turned to look at me. "Could…you uh, leave?" They gave me hurtful looks but then I nodded my head in Fred's direction. They looked over at the ginger and then made knowing faces.

"Oh…" Talia trailed off, squeezing my hand.

"What?" I asked, my throat suddenly dry.

"He…he's been…uh…" George trailed off, trying to find the right word to say.

"Well spit it out." I said a little too harshly.

"He's been kind of…lost I guess you could say. Since the whole thing happened." Talia said for her boyfriend.

"He has?" I croaked, my eyebrows furrowed.

They both nodded. "But can you blame him, Davie?" The other twin spoke up, clearing his throat. It was a rhetorical question, I knew, but I still had the stubbornness to answer it. _No_. I thought. _In fact, I wouldn't blame him if he absolutely hated me and wanted to break up with me_. I thought sadly. I shook my head and turned my attention back to George, who was talking again. "…He saw you fall from the mouth of the cave. He saw that huge hole in your stomach—we all saw it." George mumbled.

I sighed and pulsed Talia's hand. "I need to talk to him." The two teens shared a look with each other and then Talia leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. She let go of my hand, a bit reluctantly, and then got off the bed, cracking her back. George kissed my cheek and then followed his sleep deprived girlfriend out of the room. The large doors silently shut behind them and we were all alone.

I bit my tongue as I struggled to sit up. Whatever Madame Pomfrey had given me for the pain had worn off almost completely. But this was far more important to me than being in pain; Fred was more important. At least to me, anyway. Once I had finally gotten to a sitting position, Fred was looking at me. His eyes were red rimmed and puffy, the result of hard crying. His skin was ghostly pale. His face was thinner, like he hadn't eaten in days. My heart started to crack, knowing that his disheveled look was caused entirely by me.

I opened my mouth to call out to him, but he beat me to it: "You died." He said softly. I shut my mouth, staying quiet. "For five minutes, Davie, you were dead. I was scared." He stood up and walked a little closer to me, his hands firmly planted at his sides. "We were all scared…" He continued. "I was terrified. I don't want to lose you, Davie." He looked at me then, straight on. His water blue eyes were shining with the tears that were staining his cheeks. A lump formed in my throat and a large ache started beating in my chest. I felt pieces of my heart start to break a part and fall into darkness.

"But you didn't lose me. I'm right here." I cried in a hushed voice, through a heavy strain. Tears spilled down my cheeks then, and I made no effort to wipe them away.

My ginger let a small smile tug the corners of his mouth and wrapped his arms around himself. "But there was a possibility that you wouldn't be here right now. There was a possibility that—"

"Fred…come here." I said abruptly. I scooted over in the bed and he didn't hesitate; he rushed over to me and sat down beside me. He raised his hands to my face and held his hands on my cheeks softly, wiping away my tears. I did the same to him, smiling whole heartedly. "You didn't lose me." I assured, kissing the tears from his eyes. "I'm right here." We kissed again and again and again. I wrapped my arms around his chest and he pushed me back against the pillows. I held in a little sob of pain as my stomach began to sting. I could feel it starting to bleed, but made no move to call for Madame Pompfrey, where ever she was.

"Don't leave me again." He whispered urgently in my ear as he kissed my head, my cheek, my jaw, my nose, my lips, my neck, everything.

"I don't plan on it." I laughed slightly, running my hands through his hair. I swung one leg over his waist and pressed my lips against his, softly at first but then up a notch. His hands skimmed my waist and I gasped, mostly from the pain, as his hand lifted the hem of my shirt and he lightly traced the bandage around my torso. "That's gonna be a nasty scar." No amount of magic or potions was going to completely remove the scar. I would have it on my body forever, but I was okay with it because I was proud of it, despite everything.

"You're still beautiful." Fred whispered against my neck, removing his hands from my stomach and wrapping it around my back, pressing me closer to him. We were already skin tight close, so I didn't know how much closer we could get. I blushed from the unnecessary compliment, but kept quiet about it.

We stayed like that for hours, wrapped up in each other's limbs. We were quiet, touching and kissing each other. At some point I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes back up it was already dark outside. Fred was playing with my hair, braiding it. I smiled and rand my hand down his chest. I felt his breath hitch in his throat and I sighed, debating if I should tell him or not. Tell him the truth. Tell him what happened when I was dead.

It was now or never. And he really needed to know.

I took a deep breath and said, "Fred…I had a _vision_…of it happening." I felt him hold his breath.

"Of what happening?" He knew exactly what I was talking out.

I sat up, ignoring the pain once again, and stared at him. "My fight with the dragon…I saw it stabbing me…and in the vision I died right there." His body grew rigid and he dropped my hair, scooting away from me. I slowly reached out to him but he jumped out of the bed and sulked over to one of the windows, running his hands through his hair. I stayed quiet. Any minute now he was bound to explode.

"Wait, you're telling me that you had a vision…that you got killed and—and you still went through with it?" His voice was rising. He turned to me, his hands in his hair, his eyes wild. I nodded slowly, keeping my eyes on him. "You could have forfeited, Davie! You _should_ have forfeited! You're so bloody _stupid_!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

I narrowed my eyes at him and yelled, "I had something to prove!"

"What?" He dropped his arms to his sides, looking defeated once again.

I gulped and said, in a low voice, "I…I had something to prove."

"What?" He repeated, staying close to the window. The moon was beaming down on his back, illuminating him from behind. From where I was, it actually looked like the boy had wings.

I took a deep breath and said, "That I wasn't the Cowardly Lion everyone in this bloody school thinks I am."

"Davie—"

"You know it's true, Fred!" I snapped, getting out of the bed and standing my ground. "Don't tell me it's not—because I know it is! Everyone thinks I don't belong in Gryffindor—that I don't even belong in this school because I'm practically scared of every goddamn thing—and I had to show them that I wasn't. I—I had to show them that I am _something_." I beat my hand against my chest for emphasis. Hot tears were stinging my eyes. My legs began to shake and I had to hold the edge of the bed for support so that I wouldn't fall. "And I am something, now." I added in a small voice. "_I am something_." I stumbled on the floor some more and got a better hold of the bed.

Fred walked a little closer to me, as if to help me, but I took a step back. "You don't have to prove anything to anyone." He said darkly. "Piss on anyone who thinks you're cowardly. You're braver than you know, Davie. I don't know why you can't see that. You don't have to die to prove you're something!" He raised his voice again and sat on my bed with a loud plop. He was silent for a few seconds and then asked, "And since when do you have visions in the first place?"

I stifled a laugh. "Since this summer."

"How?" He wouldn't look at me again.

I shrugged and sat down on the other side of the bed, trying to keep my distance in fear that he would scoot away from me if I got too close in the first place. I took a deep breath and said, "Apparently every female from my mother's side of the family is cursed with seeing horrible, disasterous things that are going to happen. It's the future. It all comes true. I can't change a damn thing about it, either. All I can do is watch." He looked at me then. He looked so sad. He moved beside me and went to put his arm around me but then stopped and held his hands together, tightly.

"What all have you seen?" He asked slowly, like he was afraid to ask.

I shrugged. "Just the dragon killing me…and I was drowning in some… And I had a few about the past. I don't know why. To be honest, the visions aren't as straight forward as they should be. Sometimes they're encrypted. I don't know what the drowning ones mean except that I'm going to drown, obviously."

"What about the ones from the past? What do those mean?" He pressed on.

"Those…those were showing me how my parents died. Their last words to me." My voice was shaking. He was silent. He wanted me to tell him more and I honestly thought about telling him about the man's voice and that my parents were trying to protect me from someone, but I didn't. I wanted to, but something was holding me back. Something was nagging me in the back of my mind to keep quiet about it. So I did. Instead I said, "But about the drowning ones: I've cheated death before, so I'll be fine. Plus, I don't even like swimming, so I don't see that happening." I tried to sound as aloof as I possibly could, but there was still some strain.

"Um…" Fred was searching from his words. "How did you find out…about all of this?" He made a wild hand gesture over my head and I fought back a smile.

"My mother."

"But, love, your mother is…" He trailed off sadly.

I nodded and sighed. "When I was…dead… I saw her. I talked to her. She told me about it and that I couldn't control it and that whatever I saw was going to happen or had already happened. So basically I see horrible things in the past and the future." And also someone is after me and apparently everyone thinks I'm going to turn evil like him and I'm going to have to make a lot of life changing decisions soon. You know. Same old same old.

He was silent for a few more seconds and then asked, awkwardly, "Is there anything I can do?"

I smiled at him and said, "No, honestly, Fred, there's absolutely nothing you can do. About the visions, that is." He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. "So what was it?" I looked up at him.

"What was what?" He knitted his eyebrows together in confusion.

"My time. My place. What was it?" It seemed that the only way to lighten to dreadful and sad mood the room had fallen in was to change the subject.

He drew in a breath and regretfully said, "Third place. Seven minutes." My eyes grew wide and I jumped off the bed again, jumping up in the air and dancing around the room. I stumbled a little and caught the wall for support. Pain surged through me but I was too excited to let it bring me down.

I beamed a bright smile at Fred. "I can't believe it! It seemed like I was in that arena for a thousand years."

"Yes, well, beating up a dragon would make it seem like it took longer." He rolled his eyes.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Pft. The damn thing abused me first." Fred stood up and moved in front of me, putting his hands on my hips. He stared down at me and I blushed and turned away. He brought my chin up to look at him and I saw that a playful smile was dancing across his face. He leaned down and whispered in my ear:

"Hurry up and get better." I could hear the mischievousness and deviousness coating his voice and I let out a little squeak, turning away from him again. I dunked under his arms and began limping back to my cot. "Well someone's shy all of a sudden." He laughed, catching me by the waist and bringing me back against him. I could feel my face heating up as I held my hands over his. He abruptly pulled his hands away though and I turned with a brow raised. A dark liquid covered his palms and I looked down to my stomach, seeing that the blood had seeped through the flimsy fabric of the t-shirt Madame Pompfrey had put me in.

"I should probably lie back down." Dizziness crept in the corners of my vision and I sat back in the bed. Fred called for Pomfrey and she was there in a split second with vials of potions and a new dressing for my wound. It took her all of ten minutes, with the exception of forcing the disgusting black liquid of a healing potion down my throat. She scolded me to not get back up until I was completely healed and then left after Fred firmly told her that he was staying with me tonight. She put her foot down in saying that she would be checking on me every hour, so we better not "do anything". I glared at her, blushing. Fred just laughed. She left with a stern eye on us both.

The redhead climbed back in the bed with me and propped his head up on his fist. He tugged a strand of hair and gave me a brilliant smile. And we stayed like that the whole night, just talking and occasionally kissing. I knew that everything wasn't okay, but for right now, in this moment with him, I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

* * *

**A/N: It was a little hard for me to end this chapter, because I didn't really know where it was going... Um. Yeah. lol Sorry you had to wait a while for it. :) I hope you like the chapter. I don't know when I'll be updating next, so please bare with me.**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Edited because I spelt Madame Pomfrey's name wrong and it was bothering me.**


	13. Welcome to Recovery

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Twelve: Welcome to Recovery**_

I was dying.

Not literally this time, just figuratively.

I had been stuck in the hospital wing of the school for about a week now, confined to the same old cot day and night. My friends came to visit it. Fred tried to spend the night again but Pomfrey put her old foot down this time and sharing a bed with the ginger didn't happen again. She didn't even let him sleep in the bed next to mine or on the other side of the room. Talia brought me some of the work I've missed, sometimes, when she didn't forget I was stuck here and wasn't off canoodling with George.

Harry had brought me my lovely golden egg a few days ago. He let me do the honors of opening it, giving me no warning beforehand that it was going to scream bloody murder at me and make me momentarily deaf. He laughed. I plotted my revenge.

Seriously though, I went through all that hell to get a clue that screamed at me whenever I opened it. I knew that it was a trick and there really was a clue hiding somewhere in there, but I didn't have the patience to figure it out at the moment. It was a funny thought, me not having the patience for something. I_ always_ had patience. But now…it's as if it had all slipped away.

Today was Saturday, the first of December, and the day everyone from the school left to go to Hogsmeade for their weekend pleasures and indulgences to have fun while I was left to rot away in this bloody place with only an old woman as my company. Okay, so maybe I was being extremely overdramatic, but could you really blame me? I was a teenager and I wanted to be doing other things than sitting like a lump in a bed. I had cheated death. I wanted to at least go out and celebrate.

"How much longer do I have to stay in here?" I asked the same question I had been asking the past week again. It seemed like I was on repeat. Every day, Pomfrey would come in here, redress my battle wound (literally) and then give me some broth that tasted somewhere between chicken and fish. I wasn't a great combination but it did give me good energy.

The old woman sighed and answered the same question with the same answer: "Until you're well, Miss Olsen."

I crossed my arms over my chest and puckered out my bottom lip like a pouting child. "But I feel fine!" I wined.

The greying woman shook her head at me and didn't spare me a glance as she put away the supplies she had used on me moments ago. "You won't be saying that when you stand up and that hole in your stomach starts bleeding again." She did have a point there. The day after I had woken and gotten out of bed, causing my gash to re-open again, she had given me hell; scolding me for an hour about how important it was for me to stay still and blah blah blah. I didn't think she understood how important it was for my recovery to be surrounded by my friends. But of course she was a dictator and didn't let them stay longer than five minutes.

"If you were as great of a Mediwitch as you thought you were you would have me fixed by now." I grumbled under my breath, rolling my eyes.

"Excuse me, what was that?" The woman asked sharply. I retaliated and shrank back in the bed, looking away from her piercing gaze. Pomfrey wasn't a mean woman, but she was all work and no play. Which was sad. In her age, I assumed she needed a little fun.

"Oh for—nothing!" I muttered exasperatedly, throwing my arms down on the bed. It was snowing outside. And I was growing more and more impatient to get my legs moving. I eyed my wand from the other side of the room and she caught me looking, so I quickly adverted my gaze outside again. Madame Pomfrey had confiscated my wand when I attempted to "escape" the room a few days ago. It did no good, taking my wand, because my magic was as weak as I was at the moment.

"That's what I thought." She said curtly. A slight smile played on her lips and I had to fight back a glare. "Now lie down and take a nap." She ordered as she made her way to the large doors.

"But I'm so bored!" I was complaining like a toddler, but honestly, the only thing to do in this room was sleep. And when I slept 75% of the time I had a gruesome vision about the future—or the past—and it made me want to take up being an insomniac.

"This is recovery, Miss Olsen, it isn't supposed to be fun." The woman sighed tiredly.

I lowered my voice and said, maybe a little too hopefully, "I won't tell if you let me out."

She narrowed her eyes at me and said, in a hard tone, "No."

"_Please_." I begged.

"Absolutely not." She shook her head and planted her fists on her hips.

I thought of something quickly: "But I need fresh air!"

"I'll open a window." She countered.

"I need to see people."

"What am I? A toad?" Slight amusement was hinting on her face and her lips quirked up at the sides.

"People my _age_." I emphasized.

She rolled her eyes and opened the door to make her leave. "Your friends come visit you every day."

I quickly thought of something else: "I need to talk to my teachers."

"They bring you your missed work every afternoon."

"I want a proper meal." I was running out of things to complain about.

"You get three a day, you just choose to not eat them." It was true; I hadn't been hungry at all; between the visions and the stress from the tournament, I just couldn't keep anything down. The only thing I ate was that mysterious tasting broth. I couldn't remember the last time I had a solid meal. I was sure that I looked all boney and thin and sickly, but my friends refrained from saying anything about it. I hadn't seen my reflection in a week because there were no mirrors in the hospital wing, but I was sure if I saw myself I wouldn't be happy at all with the outcome of my reflection.

"I need—"

She slammed the door shut, causing everything in the room to quake and then turned back to me, "You _need_ to shut your mouth and heal is what you need to do." She snapped, wagging a finger at me.

I shrank back against the headboard of the cot and glared at her with an upturned face. "You're a vile woman."

"So you've told me for the past week." She muttered in an un-amused voice.

"You can't keep me in here." I pointed out.

"No, but Dumbledore can." The defeated look on my face gave her some enlightenment, because she smiled and then opened the large door again to make her leave. "If you don't want to die, you will shut your mouth and lie down." She sang at me.

"I'd rather take death." I grumbled.

She raised her grey eyebrows at me and said, "I'll be sure to tell Mr. Nightingale and Miss Ashford about that."

I narrowed my eyes at her, because she would do it, too. And if she did, Talia would maul me and Mason would probably put spiders in my hair. "You cunning woman. Were you a Slytherin, Pompfrey?"

"Hufflepuff." She answered with a tight smile.

"But—"

"I'll be back to check on you this afternoon. Rest. And if I hear you've been out of this room I will be forced to put restraints on you."

"You would treat me like an animal."

"I treat you as you are." And with that, the door slammed shut again and she was really gone this time. I sighed deeply, utterly defeated and fell back on the soft bed. I put my hands behind my head and shut my eyes, not to go to sleep, but to contemplate a plan to get out of here without any of the teachers noticing.

I didn't want to go to Hogsmeade; I wasn't stupid, I knew I wouldn't make it that far. I just wanted to go outside and see the first snowfall. I wanted to watch the little puffs of frozen water fall from the grey-white sky and freeze my butt off without, for at least a little while, caring about the bloody Triwizard Tournament or what any of my forsaken doom visions meant—and also without having to worry about that golden egg screaming at me every time I tried to figure out what clue it was supposed to give me.

Having enough of the lonely silence, I threw the blanket off of my body and swung my legs off the side of the bed. I slowly and steadily made my way over to the table on the other side of the room and grabbed my wand. Magic surged through my like a spark as my fingers came into contact with the slick wood. It had taken quite a beating when I was fighting that dragon, but someone had fixed it up for me. When I asked who, no one would say. I knew my wand wouldn't be of much use to me like this, but it was still nice to hold it. It was like reuniting with an old friend after a few years of being apart.

I shoved my wand in the back pocket of the sweat pants Talia had brought for me and slipped on the fuzzy white slippers in the shape of bunnies Ginny let me borrow. I was wearing a flimsy red long sleeved shirt, which wasn't going to hold up against the searing cold of winter, but that was fine with me.

Pulling my hair in a knot at the nape of my neck, I walked over to the large doors of the room and pressed my ear against them. I heard nothing in the hallway. I pushed the door open a crack and peered out. No one was in the hallway. I took a step out of the room, gingerly, afraid that Pomfrey put some type of charm on the door that would ring out if I stepped out, because she would absolutely do that. But as I tip-toed out, nothing happened; there was no alarm. Relief washed through me and I began to slowly make my way down the hall, leaning against the wall for support. I kept one hand pressed to my stomach to keep the pain at a minimum, and to make sure that the wound didn't open back up and start bleeding everywhere.

I made it to the entrance hall in one piece. As I rounded the corner I froze. Standing a few feet away from me was Dumbledore and Snape, in a heated conversation it looked life. I pressed myself against the wall, hoping that neither of them saw or heard me. I held my breath for a few heartbeats and then slowly looked over the edge of the corner. Snape was gone but Dumbledore was looking straight at me. I jumped slightly. He had seen me. But he winked and then walked away in the opposite direction up a set of stairs to his chambers. I blew out a breath. I didn't think anyone realized just how amazing that man was. That's twice now that he's let me slide.

With a smile tugging my lips, I made my way out the doors of the school and gasped in delight at what I saw: there were snowmen decorating the yard, along with Christmas lights and garland in the colors of the school houses. Delicate cotton balls of snow fell from the sky and joined the blanket of snow in the schoolyard. I made my way down the steps and sat on a frozen bench. I was freezing already, but didn't bother to cast a warming spell. It was nice to feel something other than the heat of the hospital room for once. It was actually sort of therapeutic, to be outside like this. Calming, even. I could feel the stress leaving my body slowly and my smile grew wider.

Looking at all the different sized snowmen, I found my thoughts shifting to Ludo. I had put my poor dwarf owl through hell after the first task. Fred said that she wouldn't sleep or eat until she knew that I was okay—alive. He said that she had been in a bad mood this whole week because she couldn't see me—or rather, she _wouldn't_ come see me. I didn't blame her for hating me right now; she had every right to be mad, just like my friends had every right to be, too. But I missed my owl. I just hoped that she would forgive me soon. Fred, Talia, and Mason were taking care of her though, making sure that she was eating, so that made me worry a little less.

I sat outside for two hours. My body was frozen solid and I was sure that my lips were a deep blue, as were my fingertips, but it was well worth it in my opinion. Madame Pomfrey hadn't come out to yell at me, and neither had any of the other teachers. I was sure they knew by now that I was outside, but maybe Dumbledore had told them to leave me alone. Bless that man if that was the case.

Students started rolling back in at around four. They passed by me with weary looks. Some smiled, some sneered (mostly just the Slytherin's), some even congratulated me and patted me on the back for putting up a good fight. Neville came up to me, giving me a tight squeeze. I cringed but didn't say anything to ruin his enthusiasm.

Slowly making their way into the courtyard, I saw Fred, Mason, Talia, and George throwing snowballs at each other. George spotted me first and nudged his twin, who looked shyly up at me and then turned his back to me. He and George started talking with their heads together and I furrowed my eyebrows. What was that all about? Talia and Mason nodded at me and ran up to me, sitting down on either side of me on the bench.

"I'm surprised they let you out." Mason said, patting me on the back.

I shrugged. "I suppose they finally realized that they can't hold me like an animal anymore." I looked back up at the Twins and raised my eyebrows. "What's up with them?" I nodded towards the two gingers, who were still in a heated conversation.

"So there's this ball," Talia said, ignoring my question completely.

"Really?" I sat back on the bench and lightly crossed my arms in front of me.

"Yep," Mason said. "On Christmas. It's for you."

"Me?" I nearly choked in disbelief with wide eyes.

Talia nodded, beaming a bright smile at me. "Well, not exactly just for _you_. It's for all the Triwizard Champions." I rolled my eyes and groaned loudly.

"Do I have to go?" I muttered, kicking some snow up, creating a little white cloud around us.

"Yes," Talia yelped, slapping me on the shoulder and then patting it softly in fear that she hurt me. She did, but I wasn't about to say anything. "The Yule Ball is supposed to be this brilliant celebration for the Champions and you are not going to miss it because you have two left feet."

I looked over at my best friend and scowled. For a moment, I realized just how beautiful she was and just how horrible I must have looked sitting next to her in the freezing world. Her long black hair was pulled back in two braids and she had cut a fringe straight across her forehead. That was new; she must have just cut them this morning because yesterday she didn't have them when she came to see me. She was wearing Muggle clothes: black cotton tights, a black thigh-length skirt, a black trench coat, her gold and red Gryffindor scarf, and a dark red sweater with knee high black boots. She looked like one of those high fashion models she showed me in a magazine from the Muggle World.

"I do not have two left feet." I said under my breath. I hugged my arms close to my body and a rough shiver rocked through me.

"Alright, whatever, but before you decide to kill over from frostbite, look up." Mason nudged my shoulder and I dragged my eyes from my fuzzy bunny slippers to where Fred and George were standing just a few feet in front of us. I opened my mouth to ask Mason what exactly I was supposed to be looking at, and then it happened: the Twins waved their wands through the air and blue sparks flew out, creating icicle fireworks in the sky. The sparks fell down on the various snowmen in the courtyard and then they jumped to life, dancing through the snow. It reminded me of a movie Talia made me watch last year about a snowman named Frosty who came to life because of a kid's wish or something. But this was so much more beautiful than that.

The snowmen suddenly turned to snow birds and they swooped through the air in delicate loops. They formed words in the sky and I felt myself blushing madly. **DAVIE, WILL YOU GO TO THE YULE BALL WITH ME?** Is what the birds spelt out. I brought my hand to my mouth in a silent gasp and held back tears of surprise and happiness.

My two best friends patted my knees and then got up and walked with George and the rest of the people who decided to stay and watch the show inside the school. The birds dropped from the sky in puffs of snow around me. I was too happy to notice the intense cold burning my skin. Fred walked up to me and plopped down beside me on the bench, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to him. His body heat began to melt away the ice on me.

"Of course I will go to the Yule Ball with you—if you forgive me for having two left feet." Yes, I would admit it; I honestly did have two left feet. But Fred could dance. He would never admit it, but the man could dance and he could sing and he could play piano and guitar. He was the most musically talented person I knew.

Fred leaned down and rested his head in the space of my neck, kissing me softly. My breath hitched in my throat and he kissed the tender skin again. "I don't mind." He breathed throatily. I smiled, resting my head on his. His orange-fire hair was so soft and it smelled like fresh mint leaves. "You know…" He trailed off. I lifted my head, giving him a raised brow look. He looked away from me, his cheeks reddening furiously. He coughed and said, aloofly, "I had been planning to do that as a way to ask you out, but that never worked out." He shrugged slightly and gave me a devious smile.

Now it was my turn to blush madly. "P-Planning?"

He nodded and sat up, pulling me into his lap. "You know those papers you saw George and me with?"

"Yeah."

"Yep." He wrapped some of my hair around his finger and then flicked it across my face. He gave me a cheeky smile. "I had it all planned out."

I smiled and laughed, hitting his chest lightly. "You're the romantic type, aren't you?"

His face got even redder but he kept that adorable smile on his face. "Is that lame?"

I shook my head and kissed his nose. "I love it."

"Good," He sputtered, a little embarrassed. He lightly grabbed my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. Our faces were just inches apart and he leaned in, kissing me tenderly on the lips. "Because you're going to have to get used to it." He whispered against my lips. He kissed me again and I shivered violently with a grumbled sigh, ruining the cute moment. "Let's get you back inside before you get the flu or something. I'm sure Pomfrey is going to have your ass, anyway." I groaned and he set me back on the bench and then stood up with his back to me.

"Um… What are you doing?" I actually thought that he was going to sit on me for a moment.

"Jump on my back." He said.

"I can walk…" I trailed off, feeling self-conscious.

"Don't argue with me." Fred laughed. I rolled my eyes and got up on his back, wrapping my legs around his torso and my arms around his hard chest. He hooked his arms under my knees and then started towards the entrance of the school.

Fred took me back to the hospital wing, and surprisingly Pomfrey wasn't there, raising hell about me leaving. I got back in the cot and said goodnight to my lovely ginger. Regretfully, he left and I was all alone again. My wound hadn't re-opened, so hopefully I would be able to get out of there in a couple more days. The day I got out, Talia and Ginny were bound to drag me to Hogsmeade for an endless time of dress shopping and gossip, no doubt. I was actually looking forward to it.

That night, I fell asleep with a smile on my face, and thankfully, it was one of those nights when my mind was free to have sweet dreams.

* * *

**A/N: There needed to be some more cute Fred/Davie moments... I actually love writing about them together. :3 Yule Ball soon! And McGonagall teaching them how to dance and getting the dress and finding out who fixed her wand and the egg and more visions. **

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	14. Everybody Hurts

**The Cowardly Lion**

_**Chapter Thirteen: Everybody Hurts**_

It was my first night back in my bed, but I couldn't sleep. (I know, shocking I wasn't in the common room with Fred on the couch.) I had tried, of course, but the visions kept coming one after the other. I would sleep for five minutes and then wake up in a cold sweat, my heart hammering. Tonight the visions weren't clear at all; all I saw were bright lights and all I heard was screaming. Men screaming. Women screaming. Children screaming. But I couldn't see a damn thing. All I knew for certain what it meant was that people were going to die—or have already died. And of course I couldn't stop the pain. I couldn't stop their pain.

It was a burden to have a gift—curse like this. I honestly wouldn't wish it on anybody. Not even that worm Malfoy. His father, though, perhaps.

Finally, after deciding that I wasn't going to sleep anymore that night, I swung myself upright and reached for my wand on the bedside table, only to snatch my hand away and scowl. Ludo was awake, standing on top of my wand. She had pecked me several more times when I went to reach for it again. Apparently she didn't like the idea of me being out of bed with what had happened four weeks ago. She didn't even like the idea of me walking to breakfast and going to class. Every time I got to my feet she would squawk and glare at me. She was like the mum I never knew. Only I suspected that my owl was a lot more naggier than my mother ever would be.

With slanted eyes at the dwarf owl, I snatched my wand from her before she could draw blood and shoved the long wood stick in the waistband of my pants. Ludo staggered on her small feet and opened her beak to let out a high pitched squawk, loud enough, I'm sure, to wake up Talia and make her put some charm on me so that I wouldn't be able to get out of my bed till morning. I grabbed Ludo and cupped my hands over her. I quickly removed myself from my room and stood in the hallway, waiting for her to calm down and stop biting me angrily.

After a few seconds, she grew still. I opened my hands and saw her cock her head to the side, glaring at me with those otherworldly yellow eyes of hers. She opened her small beak again and I put my finger in her mouth. She chomped down and I hissed out a long breath. She let me go after a few seconds and continued to glare at me.

"Hush, alright." I whispered. "I'm not going to do anything stupid." I could swear that she rolled her eyes at me. "I promise!" I yelped in a whisper. She relaxed a little. "And I suppose you're coming with me…" I trailed off, sighing. In response, my dwarf owl climbed up my shirt and perked herself on my shoulder, nuzzling close to me.

I could tell she was still angry with me, but at least she wasn't hurting me anymore.

I pulled my wand out of my pocket and cast a small _Lumos_ on the end of my wand. I made my way down to the common room and was actually surprised to not find the Mischief Twins awake and plotting something. A few days ago they had apparently set a small flood to the Slytherin common room. A lot of people were baffled about how that could happen, since they weren't Slytherin's and they couldn't get in their dungeon, but Mason was a Slytherin. He had helped them and it was hilarious. It obviously didn't make Mason any new friends in his house, but it wasn't like he fancied anyone wearing silver and green, anyway.

I exited the Gryffindor common room and took the first right down a short hallway and then the next left. No teachers. No students. Good. At the end of the musty hallway was a classroom no one used anymore. I pushed open the door; it was never locked. My wand lit up the room and I walked to the back where the mirror was hidden under a large, stained blanket. I pulled the blanket from the mirror and sat down in front of it, staring up at the two young people who reflected from it.

My mother and father.

They were smiling, holding each other in a loving embrace. My mother's long, wavy dark brown hair hung in a straight braid at her side. Her fringe was swooped to the side, held in place by a bobby pen. She was wearing Muggle clothes; a knee length black skirt with green tights, black ankle boots, a black sweater, and her Slytherin scarf. She was smiling broadly, her arms around my father's waist. Her grey eyes were shining. My father looked as in love with her as she did with him. He was wearing a black sweater and dark trousers, his Ravenclaw scarf hanging loosely around his neck. His dark brown hair was tousled, like he had just gotten out of bed. His dark blue eyes were positioned straight at my mother, looking at her with such love and care.

I smiled at the sight of them, feeling a small tear fall down my face. I wished that I could be there with them. I wished that I could hug them, kiss them. I wished that they could tell me stories about their life at Hogwarts and how they got together and their wedding and—

I stopped my thoughts abruptly in fear that I would burst out crying.

Harry had showed me the Mirror of Erised his first year here. He hoped that I would be able to see his parents, but I saw mine instead. We later learned that the mirror showed the person looking at it what their deepest desire was. Harry's was for a family. Mine was for a family. We weren't that different, actually.

"I thought I'd find you here." A voice sounded behind me. I jumped and quickly wiped my eyes with the backs of my hands to get rid of the light tears. Turning I saw Fred approaching me, his hands casually in his pajama pants pockets. I turned back to the mirror and smiled sadly at my parents. The redhead sat down beside me and Ludo jumped from my shoulder on to his, nuzzling her head on his ear.

"You can't see them, can you?" It was a stupid question, I knew, but I still had to ask. Every person who looked in the mirror saw something completely different.

"No," He answered, regret in his voice.

I nodded slightly. "Suppose I knew that…" I trailed off. He scooted closer to me and lightly placed his hand on my knee. I looked up at him with questioning eyes and he smiled, kissing me on the cheek. I smiled back, ruffling his hair. "What do you see in the mirror, then?" I asked with honest curiosity.

"Oh," He turned away from me, his face turning reddening.

I raised my eyebrows. "What?"

"You don't wanna know." He shrugged lightly and began stroking Ludo.

I rolled my eyes and punched him lightly in the arm. "The mirror shows what you desire most; I want to know what you desire most."

"Well," He coughed. "Erm," He scratched the back of his head.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Fred, just spit it out already!" I laughed, pushing him slightly, causing Ludo to hiss at me. Apparently I had disrupted her almost sleep.

"You," He said quietly, gazing up at the mirror.

"Huh?" I looked up at it, knowing that I wouldn't be able to see what he saw, but I still had to try.

"You," He said a little louder, running his hand through his long hair. "What I desire most is you." His face was as red as a tomato now, and I could feel the heat in my face rising.

"But…you…" I was slightly confused, seeing as we were already together.

The boy heaved a sigh and elaborated, "To be married to you." My mouth made an 'o' and I stayed quiet, wide eyed. "In the mirror I see you and me married. Smiling. Happy. Obviously not worried about anything anymore. _Happy_." He repeated the word like it was foreign. He coughed again. "Sorry…if that's, um, really weird and creepy." He still wasn't looking at me. Coming out of the slight shock I was in, I grabbed his face and kissed him full on the mouth. His eyes grew wide in surprise but it didn't take long for him to return the kiss. Ludo made disapproving sounds before she flew out of the room.

We pulled away from each other and I smiled, touching my forehead to his. "It's not weird or creepy. We probably will get married." I grinned like a fool and then said, halfheartedly with a shrug, "If you can stand me for that long." I didn't want to say _If I live for that long_, because then I would actually have to acknowledge that something impossibly horrible was going to happen.

And it was.

There was no denying that.

But not soon.

Not soon because I wouldn't let it. I wanted Fred to be happy and worry free, at least for a little while, because he deserved it. And when the time came for me to…decide whatever it was that I needed to decide, we could worry about it then.

"I'll just turn you purple whenever you disagree with me." He joked.

I scowled and turned away from him, my nose in the air. "That, good sir, would earn you frog fingers."

"There you go talking about frogs again." He sighed and pulled me into him. His face hovered just inches from mine and I thought he was going to kiss me. But then I saw the devious twinkle in his eyes and tried to pull away. Too late. His tongue licked the side of my face and I let out a squeal, pushing him away and standing up.

"You licked me." I stated, wiping my face off with the end of my shirt. "I cannot believe you just licked me!" I stamped my foot on the ground and crossed my arms over my chest. Fred was rolling on the floor in laughter. Seeing him so carefree made my face grow soft. I smiled and shook my head, joining him back on the floor.

He sat up and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. I sat between his legs, leaning back on his chest. He began playing with my hair and I continued to watch my parents hold each other and smile at me from inside glass.

I wondered if they really could see me like I could see them. I wished that they could talk to me. So many nights I snuck into this room and had conversations with them, telling them about my day, telling them about my useless crush on Fred (not so useless now, it would seem). Telling them about how I couldn't live up to my Gryffindor name and apologizing to them for it, apologizing to them that I was such a letdown. So many times I told them about how I loved living with the Weasley's, but how I wished that they were here for me. How many times had I cried in front of this mirror, wishing that they could talk back to me? I had lost count after so many times. The only time I'd ever been able to talk to my mother was when I was dead, and it wasn't exactly a nice conversation. And I didn't particularly want to die every day to be able to talk to her or my father.

"What are you thinking about?" Fred's soft, deep voice floated into my ear and I shivered slightly. He wrapped his arms tighter around me and I nuzzled my face in his neck.

"How horrible tomorrow is going to be." I said with a tight smile. Talia, Ginny, Hermione, and Mason were taking me into Hogsmeade for the day to buy me a dress for the Yule Ball, which was in two weeks. Apparently they had already gotten their dresses from the first time they went. They all had dates, including Mason. I wasn't surprised someone had asked him; he was a good looking guy. I _was_ surprised, however, that it was a _boy_. (Only because Mason seemed to be the only boy comfortable with being out at Hogwarts. Which then led me to think that maybe it _wasn't_ a boy from Hogwarts who had asked him…)

"Oh, it won't be that bad." The boy muttered, biting my ear a little.

I looked up at him and flicked his nose like he was a dog. "So you lick and you bite now? Are you a dog?" I laughed. He scowled at me and licked my cheek again. I pushed him away and scrambled out of his lap. "You're disgusting!" I shrieked, scrubbing at my face with my hand. I stood up and placed the blanket back on the mirror. I began walking back towards the door, but Fred grabbed my ankle, sending me tumbling to the floor. "Fred," I moaned, turning on my back. He sat on top of me, straddling my waist.

"Now you know how it feels to be dragged to the ground." He mumbled and then began to tickle me. I tried to push his hands away but he was too strong. He continued to tickle me on the sides and neck despite my arguments.

"You…are a…horrible person!" I shouted breathlessly. The tickling ceased and Fred just stared down at me, his breathing heavy. "What?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. I squinted my eyes, trying to read his face, but I couldn't pinpoint anything. "What's wrong?"

He was silent for a few more seconds and then shook his head and smiled down at me. "Nothing's wrong." He leaned down and kissed my temple. "Everything's absolutely perfect." He kissed me softly on the lips and ran his hands through my hair.

_Perfect_. I wished that everything was _absolutely perfect_. If everything was absolutely perfect, then I wouldn't be having visions of death and horrible disasters. If everything was absolutely perfect, then there wouldn't be a war brewing and Harry's life wouldn't be in danger. If everything was absolutely perfect, then I wouldn't be in this damn tournament.

Despite all of that, I smiled anyway and said against his lips, "Yes, everything is absolutely perfect."

**-X-**

The crisp Saturday morning wind stung my face as it swept by. I clung to the inside of my coat as my Gryffindor scarf went wild around my neck. Talia, Ginny, Hermione, Mason, and I were on our way to Hogsmeade to spend hours looking for me a dress and drink buckets of Butterbeer. I walked beside Talia, in the middle of Hermione and Ginny. Mason was stalking in the back of us, keeping to himself. We tried to engage him in our conversations but he just nodded at whatever we were saying and stayed silent.

I was really worried about him. He'd been acting this way before the tournament started and soon got out of it, but now he was back to being sad and it wasn't like him at all. I planned to ask him about it when others weren't in earshot. Mason didn't exactly like talking about his feelings.

We were about halfway to Hogsmeade when a huge gust of wind shot at us, yanking the scarf off my neck. My eyes grew wide and I grabbed it from the snowy ground and wrapped it tightly back around my neck. But the look on Talia's face told me that it was already too late. She had seen it.

I gulped. This was my doom.

"Is that a hickey?" My best friend asked, pulling the scarf away from my neck and whistling. I felt my cheeks growing hot and coughed, pushing her hand away from the scarf and pulling it as tight as I could around my neck without it suffocating me.

"Oh, Davie, tell me it's not." Ginny sighed and cringed painfully at the thought of me and her brother doing something like that.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Hermione beat me to it: "Why don't we just…walk ahead." She grabbed Ginny by the arm and hauled her forward a few feet so that they were out of hearing rang. The young redhead had absolutely no objection to this.

"So how _did_ that happen?" My long black haired friend asked, linking her arm with mine. I sighed deeply. There was absolutely no way I would be able to get out of this without telling her.

"I…I went to that classroom last night. To see my mum and dad. Fred followed me and we just…talked for a while and…other things." I turned away from her, not wanting to look at her jaw dropped face.

"Other things as in _other things_?" She bumped her hip with mine.

"What?" I turned to her with a questioning face and she raised her eyebrows at me. She made a sexual hand gesture and I jumped back from her, yanking my arm from hers. "No! Not _those _things!"

Her face faltered to disappointment. "So the clothes stayed on, then?"

"Yes!" I hissed, suddenly feeling self conscious. I pulled at my coat, wrapping it even more around my body. I could feel that my face was on fire. I didn't exactly have the "perfect figure" as most girls would say, so when the topic of sex came up it always made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I always would think 'Who _would_ have sex with someone as imperfect as me?' But now that I thought about it, yeah, maybe Fred would. Didn't mean I wanted to do it _now_, though. "Yes," I repeated a little softer. "The clothes stayed on!"

Sensing my discomfort, Talia threw her arm around my shoulders. She clicked her tongue in exaggeration and said, "Such a shame."

I turned to her sharply, finally getting it. "I—you've done those—you've had sex with George?"

She shrugged and pulled her arm away from me, shoving her hands in her coat pockets. "Well what the hell do you think we're doing when I come to visit you lot in the summer?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me and I fought to not puke at the thought of them having sex just five feet away from me. "Hey, at least we had the decency to cast a silencing spell around the room." She winked at me and I dry heaved.

"Oh—Merlin—Talia!" I seriously did not need that mental image.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Oh calm down. You're not so innocent yourself." She pulled down my scarf again and poked at the dark mark on my neck. I swatted her hand away and smirked at her.

"I never said I was innocent."

"Well you're most definitely not." She agreed.

"I know!" I said a little too defensively.

"The hickey speaks for itself." She went on.

I grumbled some choice words and hit her in the arm. "Oh come off it already. Yes, I have a hickey. I have more that you can't see, too!" I taunted.

She whistled and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, you naughty, naughty girl." She wagged her finger in my face and then gave me a huge pat on the back.

"Shut up." I muttered, punching her in the arm again. We smiled at each other and then Talia took off up ahead to join the other two girls. She interrupted their conversation by throwing herself in the middle of them and linking arms with them. I was about to go join them but then I looked back and saw Mason still sulking. I slowed my pace and waited for him to catch up. I fell in step next to him and waved at Talia and the others when they turned back to go on ahead of us. Mason wasn't going to be the first to speak, so I asked the obvious, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He answered curtly.

I slanted my eyes at him and kicked up some snow. "Doesn't look like nothing."

"It's nothing." He said sharply.

"Really?" I rolled my eyes. "Because you're not acting like yourself. You're not all happy and making fun of me like Talia was doing." He shrugged a little and I went on, "I thought you would be excited about your date. Oh no, did he change his mind? If he did—you tell me who he is, Mason, and I'll make his hair fall out." I said seriously.

The corners of his mouth turned up on the sides into an almost smile. He shook his head and said, "No, it's nothing like that. Just drop it."

"Now, you know I won't drop it. So either you tell me or I'll get Talia over here—" I began raising my hands to my mouth to call on the black haired girl, but Mason yanked them back down.

"Fine!" He hissed, letting go of my hands and bawling his fists at his sides. His body had grown tense and he held his head down, his back hair falling in his face. I hoped that he wasn't crying.

I was silent for a few seconds and then I said, "I'm listening."

He took a deep breath and then said, "My sister…" My eyes grew wide. "A few months ago it was the anniversary of her death." I swore that my heart stopped. "Usually it doesn't affect me this bad, but…I don't know…this year it's just really bad." He ended with a light shrug and then flipped his air out of his face. His expression was stone cold. I felt my heart ache.

Another few seconds rolled by and I finally found my voice. "You never told us you had a sister."

"I never thought I would need to." He sounded so lost.

"Why?" My voice cracked a little. Did Mason not trust us? Not trust me? We were best friends—best friends were supposed to tell each other everything. Well… I couldn't really be mad at him over that, because I wasn't telling my best friends everything, either. So maybe best friends _didn't_ tell each other everything. Maybe we're supposed to have at least a few secrets to ourselves that we allow to torture us _alone_.

"It happened five years ago."

"How?"

"Freak accident." He wasn't going to say anything more about how it happened, I knew, so I dropped it.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't feel sorry for me."

"I don't." I looked up at him and grinned and he returned it.

"Good. And don't tell Talia. You know she'll get all pissed off because I didn't tell her and she'll have my head and then she'll cry for hours while eating that Muggle comfort food she loves. S'mores, I think it's called. Whoever thought to put marshmallows, chocolate, and gram crackers together had to have been mad."

I linked arms with him and patted his shoulder. "I won't tell anyone." He knew I wouldn't, too.

He gave me a genuine smile and said, softly, "Thank you."

"You can cry…if you want." I offered.

"I don't cry." He said sternly.

"But you could." I kept on.

"I don't want to cry." He sighed.

"Okay…but if you ever do want to cry, you know, my shoulder's always here if you need it." I bounced my shoulder up and down and he nodded, kissing my head.

"Thank you." He said again.

"Of course." I nodded and squeezed his arm for reassurance.

We were silent for a few minutes and then he mumbled softly, "I love you."

My eyes grew wide and I could actually feel tears forming. I cleared my throat, pushing them down, and murmured, "I love you, too." He'd only ever told me he loved me once, and that was three years ago. I couldn't remember why, but I knew when he said it that he meant it fully. Like I said, Mason wasn't one to share his "deepest" emotions on a daily basis, so for him to say something like that, well, it was wonderful.

"Don't get used to me telling you that." He said seriously, throwing on his serious face which consisted of that famous Slytherin glare and an upturned nose.

I reached up and patted him on the head. "I wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this has been late! School is starting back soon and I've been doing school shopping all week. Not to mention, I've just started watching Misfits and I've already made it to season three. Lemme tell you, I'm in love with that show. Namely, I'm in love with Nathan. I've gotten my sister addicted to that show, too, so it's nice to fangirl with her over it. And I've also just started watching Game of Thrones. I just now finished season one like five minutes ago. So. That's basically what I've been doing and why this chapter is late. lol Don't kill me.**

**Anyway. I hope you liked this chapter. Still more filler and fluff and cute Fred/Davie shit. But who doesn't like cute shit?**

**Please review and let me know what you think! New chapter to be up soon, promise!**


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